[blackwasp]

As part of the ongoing trade talks with the US, it is reported that the Indian Government has proposed a new tariff classification for motorcycles with cylinder capacity exceeding 1,600cc. The revised tariff is expected to be in single digits.

The move comes after the US President expressed criticism of the harsh duties in India. Earlier, the duty on higher capacity bikes was reduced from 100% to 50%. India classifies motorcycles as per engine capacity - 75cc, 250cc, 500cc and 800cc or above. A new category for 1,600cc and above will be created.

India has also asked for a reduction in the H-1B visa fee as part of the trade talk.



Source

Link to the Team-BHP News

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

As part of the ongoing trade talks with the US, it is reported that the Indian Government has proposed a new tariff classification for motorcycles with cylinder capacity exceeding 1,600cc.

Clearly to benefit only the American brands.

Harley Davidson FatBoy and FatBob stands to gain the most from this move, and Triumph Rocket and Indian bikes as well - to a lesser degree.

[N33raj]

I perused the source article and am slightly confused. Is this new HSN coding going to be a Harley exclusive or will Indian Motorcycles benefit from it as well? Because if the duty comes down to a single digit then there will be quite the change of prices (hopefully) and buying a Indian will result in me getting a slightly smaller shock. But if only Harleys get the cut then i will have to try to persuade the missus to change loyalties!

[th2]

Honda Goldwing to see a price cut? Good news if it happens.

[Shreyas Agarwal]

So, our tax structure can confuse the shit out of any economist.

He would go like, its a capitalist democracy who is proposing single digit tariff for such premium bikes with engines bigger than 1600 cc.

His subordinate then tells him, "Sir, the GST on cars with engines greater than 1500 cc is 43% there, and a registration tax is levied over that 43%"

Economist be like, "Its a democracy that can exploit people when it wants to and appease them when they want to as per their self interests"

[Nilesh5417]

In lieu of lower H1-B visa fees, this probably is giving away not much.

[imp!]

The EU has been pushing for lower customs on Cars, Wines and Spirits in exchange for preferential trade deals on Textiles, Agricultural products and Clothes. That is a potential game changer for our Economy and the government has been ignoring it in order to shore up local Automotive manufacturing. The industry has had 2-3 decades to mature, it's ridiculous that we aren't pushing for that. Lower H1B fees aren't going to do anything for us.

Considering that we're a nation of 1.5 Billion, the lowered customs is but a stepping stone to setting up large scale manufacturing within India.

[Turbanator]

Originally Posted by imp!

The EU has been pushing for lower customs on Cars, Wines and Spirits in exchange for preferential trade deals on Textiles, Agricultural products and Clothes.

Perhaps EU can consider making Trump their honorary President for a while

Our market for Automotive is now family matured, at one end we have local production with domestic contents over 90% which covers down to local engine/ gearbox production and the vehicles are sold in large numbers. At the other end, some of the Cars/ SUVs assembled from CKD/ SKD kits. Maybe they should do a little research and ask companies like MB or BMW on the actual content they produce here vs assembling and the kind of employment generated. Can they not ask these companies to have more Apprenticeship programs instead?

It won’t be a bad idea to have a small customs duty say 25 % on CBUs beyond 2500 or 3000 cc vehicles on say vehicles costing beyond 50,000 USD to begin with.

[WorkingGuru]

Instead of giving money directly to US Govt for H1B Visa Application, this will be like incentivising sales (& earnings) to a US company.

This will allow the orange man to boast that he got tariffs reduced for Harley and thereby show that the American economy benefits from the same. Also Indian Software professionals would be happy as both these become cheaper, their chance to apply to work on-site in America and the bike they aspire for.

P.S. : lol, maybe you'll are now a generalised votebank!

[AtheK]

So the H1B visa application are in the thousands! Max number of 1600+ cc bikes that will be sold in the country will hardly ever be more then 3 digits in a year. Win for us, I would say.

[dragracer567]

Why HD? Because Harley Davidson signifies everything Trump and his support base want America to be - big, loud, brash and fast becoming irrelevant - the icon of the white American male who no longer holds the undisputed power and Trump needs to show that he's doing something to bring back the good 'ol days!

Honestly, India doesn't lose much as these bikes probably won't sell much more even with the price cut and it's not gonna make HD any more profitable either. I am all for free trade but prices cuts for >1600 cc bikes is like giving price cuts for V12 engines to appease Italy - really rather pointless (for HD in particular and America in general).

Still a win if the H1-B mess is resolved though! We should probably focus on getting the EU FTA done though.

[maddy42]

Originally Posted by dragracer567

Why HD? Because Harley Davidson signifies everything Trump and his support base want America to be - big, loud, brash and fast becoming irrelevant - the icon of the white American male who no longer holds the undisputed power and Trump needs to show that he's doing something to bring back the good 'ol days!

Still a win if the H1-B mess is resolved though! We should probably focus on getting the EU FTA done though.

Election season is on

As one of the people who faced the brunt of the H1B mess i would say good deal. Hope they resolve the approval issue at the earliest as folks have to leave the country within 2 weeks of a visa rejection leaving everything behind.

Maddy

[anjan_c2007]

"Howdy Trump" factor now shows it's fangs ! The imports were commenced when the US had blocked mango imports from India and the then government of ours, about 8 to 9 years ago swapped mango exports for Harley Davidson bike imports.

Now in almost every commerce pronouncememt, while referring to India, Trump yells at the high import duties India levies on Harley Davidson bikes. But he is not aware that we import other FBU's from the US like the Ford Mustang, Indian make bikes and so on, on which similar duties are levied.

It's not bad for consumers to have pragmatic duties levied on imported automobiles, of a niche that is not made here, but that should not be under blackmails and threats.

[aim120]

Trump could only think of harley could he not think of Tesla, lot more people would have been happy if model 3 or Y came to India or even Tesla power packs.

[sam_babushka]

This is tragicomedy from another hemisphere. Import duty on EVs and EV components hiked, and those on guzzlers dropped. The capacity of global geopolitics to completely disregard the benefits of the masses and cater to the profits of a few, is both astounding and sad