Another US motorcycle company considering moving production overseas

Minnesota-based Polaris acknowledged on Friday that it is considering moving some production of its Indian Motorcycles overseas amid concerns over new tariffs from Europe. 

A spokeswoman for the company told The Associated Press that it could move some of its production to Poland from Iowa, but noted that “nothing is definitive.”

“We’re looking at a range of mitigation plans,” the spokeswoman, Jess Rogers, told the AP. Polaris did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.

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The acknowledgement from Polaris comes days after Wisconsin-based Harley-Davidson announced that it would shift some of its production abroad due to the European tariffs. 

The European Union announced that it would impose duties on a range of American products, including motorcycles and bourbon, after the Trump administration moved to slap stiff tariffs on steel and aluminum imports from Canada, Mexico and the European Union.

Canada’s foreign minister also said on Friday that the country would forge ahead with retaliatory tariffs on $12.6 billion in U.S. goods. Those duties are expected to take effect on Sunday.

Rogers told the AP that the tariffs would raise costs for the company above the $15 million in additional costs already projected for 2018.

President Trump has directed ire at Harley-Davidson in recent days over the company’s announcement, insisting that its motorcycles should not be manufactured anywhere but the U.S. and warning that shifting any production abroad would damage the company’s reputation.

“Harley-Davidson should stay 100% in America, with the people that got you your success,” Trump tweeted on Wednesday. “I’ve done so much for you, and then this. Other companies are coming back where they belong! We won’t forget, and neither will your customers or your now very HAPPY competitors!”

Trump’s tone toward the company has vacillated in recent weeks, shifting from condemnation to pleas for Harley-Davidson to keep its production domestic.