In a follow up to our article from December 9, the U.S. Trade Representative – the government body responsible for regulating foreign trade, among other things – announced European-built motorcycles from 50-500cc would not be included in the list of goods subject to 100-percent tariffs. The proposed tariff would have been in response to the European Union’s ban on hormone-fed beef products (come on you Euros! Hormone-treated beef is good for you! It’ll put hair on your chest…and possibly everything else…) and affects other categories of products.
Much of the credit can be given to the Motorcycle Industry Council, the U.S. motorcycle industry’s trade group. The MIC’s representatives and representatives from the industry at large made the argument that such a tariff would harm the environment, U.S. businesses and U.S. families more than it would punish the E.U. Apparently the government, for once, listened to reason. Ain’t democracy grand?
