Trump says Harley-Davidson using trade war as excuse to move

[June 26, 2018]    WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump accused motorcycle maker Harley-Davidson Inc on Tuesday of using the trade war as an excuse to move production for European customers overseas.

Harley Davidson motorcycles are displayed for sale at a showroom in London, Britain, June 22 2018. REUTERS/Henry Nicholls/File Photo

"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," Trump said on Twitter.

However, the company said it decided to build the Thailand plant after Trump pulled out from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which would have lowered import tariffs on its bikes in some of the fastest-growing motorcycle markets in Asia.

(Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Eric Walsh)

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.