That Harley You’ve Been Eyeing For A While Could Become A Whole Lot Cheaper

That cliched dream that we all have of riding into the sunset on a big, burbling Harley-Davidson could come a little closer to reality very soon. A cut in import duties on large capacity CBU motorcycles has been proposed ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to India later this month.

The current import duty of 50 per cent on CBU bikes above 800cc has long been a sticking point in Trump’s trade talks with India, and the proposed solution is to create a new tariff classification for bikes above 1,600cc. The plan is to reduce import duties to single digit figures for this class of motorcycle, though it’s a little hard to see how the government can justify a move like this.

The only reasonable explanation is that the government will then also proportionately slash import duties on relatively smaller capacity CBU motorcycles as well, because having a 50 per cent duty on 800 to 1,599cc motorcycles and a 5 or 9 per cent duty on bikes above 1,600cc would be rather absurd.

The proposed cuts will favour not only the Milwaukee giant but also the likes of Indian Motorcycle, Honda and Triumph, who sell CBU bikes above 1,600cc in India. Saving up for that dream bike could become a whole lot easier than it has been in the past!

Source