Harley-Davidson Bikes May Get Cheaper In India But Did Trump Tariff Fear Prompt This?

New Delhi: At a time when US President Donald Trump threatened reciprocal taxes on countries which levy high tariffs on US goods, imported motorbikes such as those from American brands like Harley-Davidson may soon get cheaper in India. But why? Well, this comes as the Budget 2025, presented by finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday (Feb 1) has reduced import duties motorcycles with high engine capacity.

The Harley-Davidson tariff has been a point of contention for several years between India and the US. Trump has been batting for its reduction. In such a scenario, the import duty on motorcycles with engine capacity of up to 1,600 cc in India, has been reduced from 50% to 40%. These bikes are also imported as completely built-up (CBU) units.

The Harley Davidson bikes are known for their high engine capacity. Not just that, the import duty on semi-knocked down (SKD) kits has also been lowered from 25% to 20%. For completely knocked down (CKD) units, the tax has been reduced from 15% to 10%.

In December last year, Trump had said India taxes excessively, adding, “If they tax us, we tax them the same amount.”

India was also the largest trading partner of the US during the last financial year, according to data by the Ministry of Commerce.

Here’s what Trump had said:

“”The word reciprocal is important because if somebody charges us – India, we don’t have to talk about our own – if India charges us 100 per cent, do we charge them nothing for the same? You know, they send in a bicycle, and we send them a bicycle. They charge us 100 and 200. India charges a lot,” Trump said last year.