U.S. Beef Association Could Be Harley’s Biggest Ally

By Jerry Perez - January 19, 2017

Group is Lobbying Congress to Tax Foreign Motorcycle Manufacturers in a Move that Could Greatly Benefit U.S. Bike Makers Like Harley-Davidson

Sounds weird, doesn’t it? Yet it’s true. The U.S. Beef lobby in Washington is currently pushing an agenda that could help Harley-Davidson, and hurt foreign motorcycle manufacturers. More specifically, we’re talking about every European company that manufactures motorcycles outside the United States and sells them stateside.

According to The Drive, The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) is currently strong-arming the government into an agenda that would place a ridiculous tax on all European-built motorcycles sold in this country. How ridiculous? Double the price. A 100 percent tax on the bike’s selling price. As a result, a BMW cruiser could cost upwards of $50,000 dollars!

You’re most likely wondering why the NCBA has “beef” with European bikes? It turns out they actually don’t, at least not directly. But they do have beef with Europe. See, American beef has been banned from the European Union for the last 20 years due to not meeting their standards for health and hormone-usage. While one would think it’s fair for the Europeans to not want to eat chemical junk in their steaks, it turns out such “ban” violated World Trade Organization (WTO) trade agreements.

What’s the U.S. to do after being screwed out of beef revenue for 20 years? Get revenge. Nasty revenge. As a result, the WTO authorized the U.S. to slap tariffs on European products to make up for the lost revenue. Want to guess what’s included in that list? All motorcycles from 50cc to 500cc! This retaliation list submitted by the U.S. beef lobby also includes cheese, wines and other fine products.

Such tariffs could cause layoffs and financial chaos for the motorcycle industry in the U.S. Although it could in some way help Harley-Davidson, it would also hugely impact Japanese manufacturers positively as well.

What’s your take on this beefy situation?