Polaris Industries, the renowned manufacturers of the Indian Motorcycle, are considering moving some of their manufacturing for the European market to their factory in Poland.
In recent weeks, American manufacturers of certain goods/products have had to consider how they move forward trading with the EU. This is all due to the recent introduction of customs duties by the EU on certain goods being imported from the US, retaliation for the restrictions imposed on the import of European steel and aluminium by US President Donald Trump.
“The recent EU retaliatory tariffs have required us to expend time, energy and resources to evaluate mitigation plans, including the possibility of moving production of Indian Motorcycles destined for Europe from Iowa to our facility in Poland,” company spokeswoman Jess Rogers told the Minneapolis / St. Pauls Business Journal.
According to Ms Rogers, the company could see an additional cost of 15 million US dollars added to the company’s books in 2018 due to these tariffs.
“While we must overcome significant commodity, freight and tariff headwinds throughout the remainder of the year, I am confident Polaris is taking the necessary steps towards becoming a customer-centric, highly efficient growth company,” said Polaris chairman and CEO Scott Wine.
Polaris are not the only company looking to move production outside of the US. Harley Davidson have also announced a strategic move away from the US, which drew fierce criticism from the American President.
Representatives from Harley Davidson have said the move “is not the company’s preference, but represents the only sustainable option to make its motorcycles accessible to customers in the EU and maintain a viable business in Europe.”
“The thing conventional wisdom gets — and this administration does not get — is that when you mess with a market, there are secondary and tertiary effects that you can no longer predict…some companies can no longer do the economically rational thing, and when you leave them to cope with that, they may do things you don’t expect,” William Reinsch, a senior adviser in international business for the Washington, D.C.-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies told the Des Moines Register, referring to the fact that companies may resort to moving production outside of the US.
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Photo: Indian Motorcyles
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