Trump: Harley-Davidsons being made in Thailand is "the beginning of the end"

[GarryP]

Just now, Cadbury said:

Donald might get them to change their mind if he proposed a 500% tariff on HD bikes made in Thailand and imported into the US. That might send a shudder through the spines of HD management.

Don't think it would. The bikes to be manufactured here are not destined for the US market anyway.

[pegman]

3 hours ago, doggie1955 said:

Tariffs need to be increased first of all. (I am from the US). If the tariffs were higher then the money it costs to outsource products might make companies start to use Americans to produce goods. I believe it is always better to have any country use their own people to do the jobs to get things made, instead of getting poor little Chinese people to make our shoes and toys, and yes I do realize that China is not the only country that companies use to make cheaper products, but its a big one. If tariffs were higher then the companies would not make as much money from foreign people and more local citizens would have jobs, and more businesses would buy materials from inside their own countries...MAGA

Why don't we take it a step further. Let's only make purchases in stores owned by our own countrymen. Walmart has 410 stores in my country. The boycott starts July 1. McDonalds has 1,400. Let's see how many American retail and hospitality stocks tank this summer. 

 

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-12/the-1-4-trillion-u-s-surplus-that-trump-s-not-talking-about

Edited June 28, 2018 by pegman

[Baerboxer]

3 hours ago, JAG said:

Honda, Yamaha and co. seem to have coped with building motorcycles here, quite well really. 

 

Mind you, I don't know how well the Thais are geared up to supply greasy grey pigtails, grubby jeans or garishly painted leather waistcoats, although my local "Tessaban market" does have a stall selling the obligatory red and white spotted hankies...

 

You may have gathered, I'm not really a motorcyclist!

 

You should go and have a chat with those nice big bike riders, the farang ones with the tatoos and those nice waist coats with interesting colored thingys on the back.

 

A spot of tea and cucumber sandwiches and they'd be fascinated by your insight into their culture.

 

Let us know how you get on. ?

[Cadbury]

1 minute ago, GarryP said:

Don't think it would. The bikes to be manufactured here are not destined for the US market anyway.

If HD don't intend to reduce manufacturing levels in the US and the bikes made in Thailand are intended for the free trading Asian market it sounds fair enough. POTUS shouldn't have much to bleat about. 

 

[Kerryd]

13 minutes ago, GarryP said:

Don't think it would. The bikes to be manufactured here are not destined for the US market anyway.

Exactly - the bikes that will be produced in Thailand are intended for the SE Asian market and the reason is, to get get around the high import tariffs the Thais impose on foreign vehicles (2-300% - and they ADD the price of shipping AND the Insurance fees to the value of the vehicle BEFORE calculating the duties) !

For example, years ago I was going to bring my 2001 Chevy S-10 over here. At the time it was a couple years old and when I calculated the costs of the duties and tariffs, it was going to cost me twice the value of the truck just to get it into the country (not including the actual costs to insure and ship it).

It would have been far, far cheaper to just buy a similar sized truck in Thailand - which was the whole purpose for the high tariffs/duties in the first place.

 

The story about Harley putting a plant in Thailand came up in May, 2017. Well before the latest round of Trump vs The World. 
https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/984598-harley-davidson-building-factory-in-thailand/

https://www.thaivisa.com/forum/topic/984759-iconic-american-harley-davidson-motorcycles-to-be-made-in-thailand/

If Harley wanted to build motorcycles cheaper and then bring them into the US, they'd just build a plant in Juarez or somewhere else south of the border.

Edited June 28, 2018 by Kerryd

[pegman]

1 hour ago, mcdiddly said:

Let's see, economy strong and getting stronger, unemployment at a 40 year low, housing market strong, job market strong, border laws being enforced... Looks like the President is doing what he is suppose to do. I could care less if he hurt peoples feelings with his tweets, especially non US citizens.  I don't know of an American that voted for Trump that is regretting it.

I see he still has the clowns' votes, Just goes to show how well Obama had the economy rolling. 

[pinosho]

How about your daughter Ivanka making her horrendous shoes&more in China for pennies then charging hundreds of $$ in USA!!!??

[Kerryd]

31 minutes ago, lockyv7 said:

if harley go down the tube they only have thenselves to blame, this is $66,700AUD sticker price in thailand. I sometimes think the upper class in Thailand like that the big Harleys are so pricy because they know only people with real money are buying them and the price weeds out the pretenders.  

 

  
The Harley shop in Pattaya had one of those on display last Fall I think it was. Told me it was going for something like 1.2 mil Thai baht.

I love my '03 Heritage Softail Classic but I could see myself being really comfortable on one of the new models as well.

 

 

[MunkyBoogar]

DDD's comments mean absolutely NOTHING. His products are still made outside of the US.

[Slip]

1 hour ago, mcdiddly said:

Let's see, economy strong and getting stronger, unemployment at a 40 year low, housing market strong, job market strong, border laws being enforced... Looks like the President is doing what he is suppose to do. I could care less if he hurt peoples feelings with his tweets, especially non US citizens.  I don't know of an American that voted for Trump that is regretting it.

https://twitter.com/Trump_Regrets

[stanleycoin]

16 minutes ago, pinosho said:

How about your daughter Ivanka making her horrendous shoes&more in China for pennies then charging hundreds of $$ in USA!!!??

she is hot,  so I would let her off all that.

[kickstart]

3 hours ago, thaiguzzi said:

Not forgetting BMW, Ducati and Triumph factories here.

Triumph have 2 factories in the UK and 3 here. The success story that is the modern Hinkley Triumph name, would not be possible without Mr Bloor having the foresight to open up that 1st Triumph factory in Chonburi.

Do they build Triumph, Ducati's and BMW, from the ground up, ie do all the engine castings and machining etc, here in Thailand, or as I think with Triumph's and maybe other makes, some parts are imported into Thailand and built here in to complete bikes.

We have a Triumph dealership in Lopburi, drive past with a drooling mouth, nice bikes. 

[tso310]

The new factory in Rayong was talked about over a year ago and was always intended for the Asian market. I believe that extra manufacturing facilities are now being planned which will affect a factory in Kansas. It was probably on the cards anyway. His self inflicted tax war simply accelerated the decision. 

[KKr]

if the soon to be great again country would learn to work more efficiently, they could in future maybe compete on production cost.
Since that will not be in the near future, the shoot in the foot Donald D ck, imposed tariffs on imports. 
And the "Made in America" iconic brands choose with their feet.

it's a free market, and it worked well.
Having said that, soon we will be back in 1970, back on starting to rebuild a world economy after this uninformed digital, meaning black / white, disruptive choice of a minority of the American people.
Minorities dictating their will in a democratic country is not good for business !!

[TKDfella]

4 hours ago, JAG said:

Honda, Yamaha and co. seem to have coped with building motorcycles here, quite well really. 

 

Mind you, I don't know how well the Thais are geared up to supply greasy grey pigtails, grubby jeans or garishly painted leather waistcoats, although my local "Tessaban market" does have a stall selling the obligatory red and white spotted hankies...

 

You may have gathered, I'm not really a motorcyclist!

Maybe some of the American Hells Angels will come over and start teaching, eh? Ha!

[Gandtee]

So H.D will be joining Triumph in Thailand. No triumph for Trump. Shot himself in the foot. Blame the NRA.? 

[Knobby37]

How about Thailand producing better bikes than they were ever built in the US? I ride two Thai built motorbikes and they are probably better built in Thai than they are built in the US

[MunkyBoogar]

1 hour ago, mcdiddly said:

Let's see, economy strong and getting stronger, unemployment at a 40 year low, housing market strong, job market strong, border laws being enforced... Looks like the President is doing what he is suppose to do. I could care less if he hurt peoples feelings with his tweets, especially non US citizens.  I don't know of an American that voted for Trump that is regretting it.

DDD = Draft Dodging Donnie

 

The upticks/growths in the economy and job markets started well before DDD took office. Where is that wall that he promised? What has he done for the working class? I thought he was supposed to drain the swamp but it looks more like he is polluting it with automatons who are "blinded by the light". What about the empty promises that he made to the coal industry? The coal industry is DEAD and will not get revived so those people in the Appalachians need to get accustomed to that notion. If they need a job there are lots positions that were formerly held by migrants and illegals. Where is that awesome health care reform that Donald the great Orator (that was joke) promised? What happened to spending time in the Oval Office instead of romping on a golf course every other day? Barry the Hawaiian (via Afrika according to DDD) didn't spend this much time on the greens during his entire two terms. DDD has spent more time at his resorts than he has at the White House Undoing things that were approved/performed by the previous administration is not progress.

 

Unfortunately, US industries rely heavily on migrant workers of both the legal and illegal variety. There are more than a few farms that have lost quite a bit of their harvest because the product never made it to the market/stores. Why did this happen? Normal Murican citizens are not going to do those jobs so prepare for the price hicks in the near future. Why would you bust your bottom for 10~12 hours in a hot field for low wages when you can make $15/hr flipping burgers or serving sugar disguised as coffee in a AC cooled hangout. In the NE, the seafood industry has been hit hard by the lack of migrant workers. A couple crab meat canneries are actually closing permanently and the Oyster industry is also suffering. Those migrant who normally chose the legal route and got work permits are now at home waiting for their number to show up in the queue at immigration. Yes, something needs to be done about the flow of narcotics to the US. Simple solution, make the 3-letter agencies that used the narcotics "industry" to fund their activities clean up the mess that they caused.

 

Oh yeah, what about DDD and some of his flunkies using (abusing is a better word) the Office of the President of the Un-united States of Murica to turn a profit for his businesses? Most large cities do not want DDD to visit because of the huge disruptions that are caused by his (or any other POTUS) presence. A lot of valuable taxpayer funds are wasted on providing security at Trump towers and other Trump properties. The Secret Service is supplemented with local police forces. NYC is actually tired of wasting valuable man hours to protect this reality star so they requested to be reimbursed for $35million that was wasted to secure Trump towers. It costs anywhere from $120,00 to $360,00 per day to secure Trump towers when the first family is there. Wasted money!!

 

DDD will ride the publicity train until he gets Nixoned and the hardworking middle and lower class will suffer the most. The bottom line is this twit of a president needs to stop acting a like spoiled brat and start being presidential. At the moment he is not better than his good buddies Pootin (misspelled on purpose), Duerte the terrible, and Kim the magnificent glutton.

 

There are plenty of solutions out there to mitigate the issues at hand BUT politics impedes the implementation of these solutions because too many knuckleheads would rather tow the party line than work together to solve issues/problems. DDD has proven that the office of the POTUS cannot be run a like a corporation so stop trying to bankrupt the nation of IMMIGRANTS!!

 

   

[Brigante7]

4 hours ago, Briggsy said:

But HD have been producing in Brazil, India and Australia for years. Did that cheapen their value? Why are Harleys produced in India an "American Icon" but Harleys produced in Thailand "cheap copies"? Or is it only when Trump tells you to think in a certain way?

Harleys sold in the USA are made in the USA, the bikes sold outside of the USA are made outside. 

 

 

 

Brigante7.

[hansnl]

3 hours ago, KiwiKiwi said:

 

For all Americans who now realise they should not have voted Trump in - be careful what you wish for. This is not the end,, the end is discovering what people think of you and how influential you really are in the world.

 

Donald will be happy to show you.

And what about all the poor misguided souls that voted for the former one and who are now finding out that he was everything but good for the US, divided the people and most of all showed he was a a controlled robot.

[KiwiKiwi]

2 minutes ago, hansnl said:

And what about all the poor misguided souls that voted for the former one and who are now finding out that he was everything but good for the US, divided the people and most of all showed he was a a controlled robot.

 

That's America for you. Still, if you can't take a joke...

 

I used to think Obama was a muppet, but that was before I saw Trump.

Edited June 28, 2018 by KiwiKiwi

[KCPhuket]

Trump does not know sh*t but he is sh*t. Harley had this plan long before he disgraced America!

[MunkyBoogar]

Just now, KiwiKiwi said:

 

That's America for you. Still, if you can't take a joke...

 

That's because he has be stifled by the orange glow of putrid bull malarky .... lol

[simoh1490]

4 hours ago, doggie1955 said:

Tariffs need to be increased first of all. (I am from the US). If the tariffs were higher then the money it costs to outsource products might make companies start to use Americans to produce goods. I believe it is always better to have any country use their own people to do the jobs to get things made, instead of getting poor little Chinese people to make our shoes and toys, and yes I do realize that China is not the only country that companies use to make cheaper products, but its a big one. If tariffs were higher then the companies would not make as much money from foreign people and more local citizens would have jobs, and more businesses would buy materials from inside their own countries...MAGA

This is not outsourcing, HD is going to build units in the market where it sells them, a logical and sensible business decision.

[MunkyBoogar]

3 minutes ago, simoh1490 said:

This is not outsourcing, HD is going to build units in the market where it sells them, a logical and sensible business decision.

Actually, Thailand will be picking up the production of parts that were built in the closed KC plant. HD wants to use lower non-union labor and they only way to do this is to go offshore.

 

https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article197340544.html

http://thehill.com/homenews/news/387120-harley-davidson-to-open-plant-in-thailand-after-closing-one-in-kansas-city

[wwest5829]

3 hours ago, KiwiKiwi said:

 

For all Americans who now realise they should not have voted Trump in - be careful what you wish for. This is not the end,, the end is discovering what people think of you and how influential you really are in the world.

 

Donald will be happy to show you.

As one who did not vote for either flawed US Presidential major party nominees, I agree with you. A bit of a dilemma with me. I want to believe in a participatory democracy but ...(whoa, a shiver just ran down my spine). I am holding my breath awaiting the November US election. If the American citizens do not turn out en masse and elect progressive candidates I will have to resign myself that my country is lost and that it will not have any hope to recover in the time I have left in this life. As has been observed, the problem with democracy is counting heads, not what is in those heads. I do understand the justified frustration/anger of the working middle class (not limited to the US) but they are reacting with gut emotions, not reason....

[Lupatria]

3 hours ago, Jeremy50 said:

Has anyone with a flat stomach ever ridden a Harley? Or would it just topple over? Just wondering.

No it wont! I weight 56 Kg and drove my Heritage Springer 200.000 Km in Asia. Ok, once I toppled over, but only after being hit by a stupid 19 year old Thai women overrunning a red light in Bangkok.

 

      

[simoh1490]

3 minutes ago, MunkyBoogar said:

Actually, Thailand will be picking up the production of parts that were built in the closed KC plant. HD wants to use lower non-union labor and they only way to do this is to go offshore.

 

https://www.kansascity.com/news/business/article197340544.html

http://thehill.com/homenews/news/387120-harley-davidson-to-open-plant-in-thailand-after-closing-one-in-kansas-city

Your link says, "The plant under construction in Thailand is a separate and unrelated issue. Part of our long-term strategy is to grow our international business to 50 percent of our annual volume by 2027. The Thailand facility will allow us to be competitive and provide riders greater access to our brand and our products in an expanding global marketplace,” the company said in a statement obtained by the Journal Sentinel".

 

Your other link says, "The company has said it is not shipping jobs overseas. Rather, the plant in Thailand as well as plants in Brazil and India serve those markets and were built because tariff barriers make it cost-prohibitive to ship American-made bikes to those markets."

 

Did you read the links before you posted them!

Edited June 28, 2018 by simoh1490

[MunkyBoogar]

Just now, simoh1490 said:

Your link says, "The plant under construction in Thailand is a separate and unrelated issue. Part of our long-term strategy is to grow our international business to 50 percent of our annual volume by 2027. The Thailand facility will allow us to be competitive and provide riders greater access to our brand and our products in an expanding global marketplace,” the company said in a statement obtained by the Journal Sentinel".

There are many articles pertaining to the closing of the KC plant and the shift to more production in Thailand. HD chose to move offshore because they can make more profit with non-union labor and at offshore sites with a exponentially lower minimum wage.

 

[KiwiKiwi]

6 minutes ago, wwest5829 said:

I will have to resign myself that my country is lost

 

You and many others. Which was the whole point.