'Namaste Trump!', Harley-Davidson Motorcycles Getting Cheaper?

The President of the United States of America, Mr. Donald J. Trump is on his first-ever India tour along with his wife and the entire family. The US President is on his two-day visit to the land of unity in diversity and the President landed at Ahmedabad this afternoon. The 'Namaste Trump' Event was organized at the newly-made World's Largest Cricket Stadium 'Motera Stadium' in Ahmedabad where more than 1 Lakh people welcomed Mr. Trump and family. But, does the ‘Namaste Trump’ event means Harley-Davidson motorcycles are getting cheaper? Let's find out.

According to a fresh media report, after the ongoing visit to India by President Of The United States Donald Trump, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may soon yield to his demands of further lowering the import taxes on American motorcycle brands such as Harley-Davidson, Indian Motorcycles, etc.

The Indian government reduced the import tariff for the American motorcycle brand in 2019 from 100 percent to 50 percent. But, even 50 percent of import duty wasn’t acceptable for the US President and he said it is still too high. Now during his two-day visit to India, the government is likely to announce a massive cut in import duty and if sources are to be believed Indian officials may reduce import tariffs to single-digit figures in the coming months.

However, these tariff cuts will be only applicable to Completely Built-Up (CBU) motorcycle models classified with an engine displacement of above the 1600cc. In fact, when the custom duties on CBU motorcycles have been reduced, the duties on the Completely Knocked-Down (CKD) units was increased from 10% to 15%. The majority of the Harley-Davidson motorcycles that are sold in India have a cubic capacity of less than 1600cc or come via the CKD route.

It will be interesting to see the revised pricing of the premium range of Harley Davidson motorcycles. However, it is not yet clear if the CKD range will also get a price cut with this deal. Also, other American brands like Indian Motorcycle and Triumph Motorcycles will see huge benefits with import duty tariff cuts but it is yet to be seen if these brands will get the same cut as the Harley-Davidson.