India may find itself on rocky terrain when dealing with America’s cult motorbike Harley Davidson.
Following US President Donald Trump’s accusation that American motorcycle companies, including Harley Davidson, were made to pay import duties as high as 100 per cent, the Commerce Ministry has jumped into action to clear the air.
Officials in the Ministry are collecting data on the prevailing import duty structure for various categories of bikes to remove the misconception.
“The accusation is based on misinformation. India imposes 100 per cent import duty only on used bikes. The duties on new ones and semi-knocked down ones are much lower. We are compiling import data for various categories of bikes so that it can be furnished to the US Commerce Department as soon as the matter is raised officially,” a government official told
Trump did not mention India by name when he complained about high duties being imposed by some countries on motorbikes while addressing a joint session of US Congress early this month, but it was clear that he was referring to the country and others such as Indonesia, the official said.
Key marketIndia’s market for motorcycles is about 50 times larger than the US and is an obvious choice for American companies looking for increased sales. While about 16.5 million motor bikes were sold in India in 2015-16 as per industry figures, Harley Davidson’s share was less than 1 per cent.
The US President further stated that he had met representatives from Harley Davidson who complained that one particular country imposed import duties as high as 100 per cent — again an indirect reference to India.
“We don’t know why the misinformation about our duty structure is being spread. But we fully intend to correct it in the first opportunity we get, which could be at the next trade policy meeting,” the official said.
Bikes that are imported in a semi-knocked down condition attract import duty ranging 10-20 per cent, the official said. New bikes attract a maximum import duty of 75 per cent.
When it discusses the matter with US officials, New Delhi also wants to drive home the point that the import duty structure was for all countries and not just the US. “Every country takes policy measure to facilitate the domestic industry, to ensure that the domestic industry grows and takes roots and becomes more competitive. Like our ‘Make in India’ policy, the US too has a policy to promote manufacturing in their country,” the official said.