'The beginning of the end': Trump warns Harley-Davidson against moving production out of the US

Amid reports that Harley-Davidson is moving some production out of the United States due to the recently announced retaliatory tariffs by the European Union, President Trump took to Twitter on Tuesday and warned the company against such a move.

“A Harley-Davidson should never be built in another country-never! Their employees and customers are already very angry at them. If they move, watch, it will be the beginning of the end – they surrendered, they quit! The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!” Trump wrote in one tweet.

“Early this year Harley-Davidson said they would move much of their plant operations in Kansas City to Thailand. That was long before Tariffs were announced. Hence, they were just using Tariffs/Trade War as an excuse. Shows how unbalanced & unfair trade is, but we will fix it,” the president also stated. “We are getting other countries to reduce and eliminate tariffs and trade barriers that have been unfairly used for years against our farmers, workers and companies. We are opening up closed markets and expanding our footprint. They must play fair or they will pay tariffs!”

In another tweet, Trump said the company could face a “big tax.”

“When I had Harley-Davidson officials over to the White House, I chided them about tariffs in other countries, like India, being too high. Companies are now coming back to America. Harley must know that they won’t be able to sell back into U.S. without paying a big tax!” Trump wrote.

The EU recently imposed retaliatory tariffs on $3.2 billion worth of US goods, including motorcycles, bourbon, motorboats and cigarettes.

“Harley’s announcement came as an unintended consequence of the Trump administration’s efforts to protect American jobs by levying tariffs, including duties on imports of European steel and aluminum,” CNBC noted on Monday.