100% Tariff on all European bikes - Husky, KTM, Gas Gas, etc

[chamber66]

As far as i am aware all beef reared using growth hormones was banned, not just the USA. You could also not take it across some borders over here which affected our farmers as well. If i recall rightly, but i may be mistaken.

 

[Dan M]

Norm, +1-The irony is evident but it's business. I remember that time and Harley was looking for a leg up after buying themselves. I'm glad they're currently on the same side-didn't like it back then because their competition was what I was interested in...
Love an MV now

Just added my .02's worth to the website:
"I would add comments regarding the 100% tariffs on EU motorcycles with 50-500cc
engines. European dirtbike and street legal motorcycle sales in the US will never
survive a 100% increase in pricing.
1. The tariff cost will increase the typical European motorcycle to $14-16,000.
This will put these motorcycles beyond the reach of most enthusiasts,
especially in these difficult economic times.
2. Most European motorcycles are sold by small shops who cater to enthusiasts.
As they typically only carry the small volume European manufacturers' brands
this would force most if not all of these US businesses to close.
3. There are several small US aftermarket companies that also depend on the
European motorcycle sales for business. This will severely hinder or eliminate
their market in the US.
4. There is currently only one US manufacturer of dirtbikes. Their products
are boutique high priced products that are not direct competition for most of
the European products.
5. The European products fill a niche for economical street legal motorcycles
not produced by any US manufacturer.
I submit the tariff on EU motorcycle manufacturers will not have the desired
effect on the EU. Their volume of business in the US is not significant enough
to motivate the EU to change their US beef policy. Agricultural imports are the
best avenue considering the US is a direct competitor in most of not all
agricultural areas.
Thank you,
Peter J Komarek"
I submitted it through the link you posted Coffee-very easy.

I added comments after Peter's. Didn't find it after I submitted. Does it take a while to post?

 

[Coffee]

I added comments after Peter's. Didn't find it after I submitted. Does it take a while to post?

They need to be approved. Makes sense to me cause there could be some unhappy people putting up 4 letter words.

 

[mrkartoom]

They need to be approved. Makes sense to me cause there could be some unhappy people putting up 4 letter words.

Yep my receipt said it had to be approved.

Here's a thought: We stop giving growth hormones to the beef destined for the EU market and end the whole silly argument.

Nah, let's force them to eat the hormones.


edit: I see the comments are now up on their site. Hopefully they will make a difference.

 

[Dan M]

They need to be approved. Makes sense to me cause there could be some unhappy people putting up 4 letter words.

Thanks.

As a call to arms, I linked this to a Moto Guzzi V11 forum. I'm sure many there will respond.

 

[Rusty 2]

Apparently this ain't the first time this has been threatened. An old riding buddy of mine and a fellow KTMtalker whom I sent this tariff alert to today just shot this back at me from a 1999 article in a Minnesota based periodical,...scroll down a bit:

http://www.motorbyte.com/mmm/pages/allthenews/news26.htm

Not by any means does this lessen this attempt,...but it would seem the same action was unsuccessful 10 years ago.

 

[Coffee]

And a more recent AMA press release
http://www.roadracingworld.com/news/article/?lnk=rss&article=35125

 

[Troy F Collins]

total and utter non sense ..... !!!

The tarrif should be introduced only to promote the sale of domestic product...since there are few..if any domestic offroad motorcycle manufactures...who the hell are they trying to protect..??


beef and hormones is another issue altogether.....I can wrap my brain around that....promoting domestic product

Motorcycle dealerships with euro brands will suffer...and the other dealers with japanese brands down the street..will go unscathed....makes no sense....

 

[Coffee]

Non-USA people are encouraged to comment too.

They are/were also expecting comments from companies and people from outside the United States, but when I last talked to them on Thursday they were not aware of any comments on this issue from outside the USA.


If anyone is reading this that will be affected somehow - dealers in Canada, Canadian bike owners that might have a tough time getting parts in North Aamerica, Husqvarna Italy, or other people in Europe (KTM, Gas Gas, etc) - please comment - this is the time....


Any Europe companies or other people from Europe reading this? Your comments would be most welcomed

It would be nice to be able to buy European bikes in the future in the USA.

 

[Coffee]

AMA letter

In case this has not been posted Halls sent this to me. If you follow the link at the bottom there is a pdf scan of what was sent if anyone is interested.

American Motorcyclist Association News Release
Dec. 5, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Pete terHorst
Phone: (877) 877-8969
E-mail: peter.terhorst@sympoint.com

AMA fights possible 100 percent tariffs on certain European motorcycles
PICKERINGTON, Ohio -- The American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) announced today that it has written to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative opposing a plan that could double the cost of some European motorcycles imported into the United States.

The plan being considered by U.S. trade officials would impose a 100 percent import duty on more than 100 European goods -- including two engine displacement categories of motorcycles, 51cc to 250cc, and 251cc to 500cc.

The federal measure is designed as retaliation to the 27-member European Union's continuing import ban on American beef treated with growth hormones. EU officials haven't lifted that 20-year-old ban, despite a World Trade Organization (WTO) order to end it.

If U.S. officials impose the retaliatory tariff, it would double the price of a host of under-500cc on- and off-highway machines from brands such as Aprilia, Beta, BMW, Fantic, Gas Gas, Husaberg, Husqvarna, KTM, Montesa, Piaggio, Scorpa, Sherco, TM and Vespa.

"There is no logical link between European motorcycles and the dispute over beef," said Ed Moreland, AMA vice president for government relations, in his comments submitted to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. "Imposing these stiff tariffs on motorcycles would do nothing to resolve the trade dispute, but would punish American buyers of European motorcycles."

The AMA's comments make a strong argument that motorcycles have no business being used as a lever in a dispute over beef.

"Trade disputes residing concretely within the boundaries of the agricultural industry should not be resolved with trade sanctions levied against non-agricultural products," Moreland said. "A 100 percent ad valorem, or higher, tariff on these motorcycles will cause serious and potentially irreversible harm to American small- and medium-sized business owners selling the vehicles. Additionally, citizens will be denied access to certain models of competition and recreation motorcycles that contribute to the lifestyle and well-being of millions of American families."

The United States wants to impose $116.8 million in import duties to equal the amount of money it claims the U.S. beef industry loses each year because of the ban. The WTO has agreed on that amount.

Interested parties have until Dec. 8 to comment on which European goods should be subject to the 100 percent tariff in the dispute. It is unknown when U.S. officials will make a final decision.


About the American Motorcyclist Association
Since 1924, the AMA has promoted and protected the motorcycling lifestyle. AMA members come from all walks of life and they navigate many different roads on their journey to the same destination: freedom on two wheels. As the world's largest motorcycle organization with nearly 300,000 members, the AMA advocates for motorcyclists' interests in the halls of local, state and federal government, the committees of international governing organizations and the court of public opinion. Through member clubs, promoters and partners, the AMA sanctions more motorsports competition events than any other organization in the world. Through its Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum, the AMA preserves the heritage of motorcycling for future generations. For more information, visit www.AmericanMotorcyclist.com.

 

[Coffee]

Seems someone has figured out a way getting a direct link to the comment page (hope it works for multiple people)

http://www.regulations.gov/fdmspublic/component/main?main=SubmitComment&o=09000064807cd168

Kudos to Halls cycle once again.

 

[Dan M]

Something is working. The comments jumped from 5 to 13 pages in one day

 

[rawperformance]

Gave them my opinion. Thanks for the heads up.

 

[tadgh]

Any Europe companies or other people from Europe reading this? Your comments would be most welcomed

i think i posted about this in TT but heres my take on it anyhow;

the beef issue is a complete (pardon the pun) load of bull, most europeans will not (knowingly) buy meat with any sort of hormone in it. we have had enough food scares with BSE, foot and mouth disease etc that people are hyper vigilant about these kind of issues. The ban is not US related but relates to any country that uses hormones.

The idea that there is such a thing as *fair* trade in the world is laughable, most agriculture (including europe) is subsidised or grant aided to a certain degree. There is no simple like for like deal here imo.

I believe the idea of the tariff here is to make a token effort at showing that something is being done and perhaps targetting a very small section of your country. Firstly offroaders (surely a minority) then offroaders on european machinery (a minority within a minority).

From a business perspective (ktm aside) the US is a huge potential market for most of these manufacturers but I am unsure if right now if any european manufacturer is making a profit selling in the US? perhaps the home side of the business is subsidising the drive to gain market share abroad. so in the short term this could force a manufacturers hand in a direction they were already considering, who knows.

personally however if i was (as a rider) going to be affected by this it would upset me hugely, as i love huskys but couldnt justify spending twice the price of another bike on one.

my 2 cent (.02 euro)

 

[tadgh]

i think i have successfully killed the thread sent off something to the link given just to give a non US opinion

 

[Coffee]

i think i posted about this in TT but heres my take on it anyhow;

Please don't worry about repeating yourself. Internet is a big place and while TT and other forums are great places people may miss things - especially something this important.

i think i have successfully killed the thread sent off something to the link given just to give a non US opinion

"Written communication is difficult at best" - that is a quote from someone I admire.

Not sure what thread you mean, This thread? The comment submission form? Did your comment get acknowledged?

 

[Lori_K]

Comments sent this morning!

I remember when they tried this tactic ten years ago. Sheesh. Are we gonna have to re-visit this in another ten years??

Deadline to submit comments is today, Dec. 8th, at 5pm EST, I understand.

 

[mrkartoom]

i think i posted about this in TT but heres my take on it anyhow;

the beef issue is a complete (pardon the pun) load of bull, most europeans will not (knowingly) buy meat with any sort of hormone in it. we have had enough food scares with BSE, foot and mouth disease etc that people are hyper vigilant about these kind of issues. The ban is not US related but relates to any country that uses hormones.

The idea that there is such a thing as *fair* trade in the world is laughable, most agriculture (including europe) is subsidised or grant aided to a certain degree. There is no simple like for like deal here imo.

I believe the idea of the tariff here is to make a token effort at showing that something is being done and perhaps targetting a very small section of your country. Firstly offroaders (surely a minority) then offroaders on european machinery (a minority within a minority).

From a business perspective (ktm aside) the US is a huge potential market for most of these manufacturers but I am unsure if right now if any european manufacturer is making a profit selling in the US? perhaps the home side of the business is subsidising the drive to gain market share abroad. so in the short term this could force a manufacturers hand in a direction they were already considering, who knows.

personally however if i was (as a rider) going to be affected by this it would upset me hugely, as i love huskys but couldnt justify spending twice the price of another bike on one.

my 2 cent (.02 euro)

What you say makes sense. I can see the reluctance to drop the ban because of past experience, so it sort of amazes me that this is not a consideration when we try to export product there. I have no idea myself, but it jumps out to me that we simply not use the hormones for product destined for the EU market. From my observations, business (trade) seems to succeed when you deliver what consumers want, not what you want them to have.

It's a shame we are on the list, but obviously they were trying to think of every import source they could target.

 

[Coffee]

...Sheesh. Are we gonna have to re-visit this in another ten years??

My guess - yes, every 10 years. I'll ask what it would take to get the bikes off the list but my guess would be running a modified list through a WTO subcommittee for approval.... and I do not have the time/energy/authority/power to make that happen.

It's a shame we are on the list, but obviously they were trying to think of every import source they could target.

Yep.

 

[Coffee]

Update

Just got off the phone with the USTR.

It seems the comments made are making a big difference and the motorcycle community is "well represented" (yes that was a quote).

It appears that there are 31 pages of approved and visible comments on the USTR comment page, I'm sure there are more waiting to be approved.

• 28 pages of them were received after a motorcycle dealer in IL posted a link/info on his website.
• 20 of those pages were received after this and other threads started on motorcycle enthusiast forums.

More comments are always a good thing and they consider "quality" more important than "quantity" and based on what I've read you all have been doing exactly that.

Articulate & clear input is better than the random "Please repeal the mustard tariff" comment on the site.

If you are still going to comment (there is about 2 hours left to do that) you may want to point out that there will be no tariffs collected if the motorcycles have a 100% tariff. At least *I* don't think people will pay $8,000 for a bike. On a whim *possibly* an extra $8 for a bottle of mustard in a gift basket, but not an extra $8,000 for a bike.

.