Not Our Beef–Don’t Penalize Us
Thursday, January 26th, 2017
The clever artwork the AMA came up with for this effort.
Where’s the beef? And what’s the beef? Oh, the beef’s right here; the second answer is a bit more involved.
It seems the Office of United States Trade Representative is proposing to retaliate against European countries that bar American beef raised using hormones by levying a 100% tariff on small EU motorcycles coming to the U.S.
Now, you can argue whether using hormones is good or bad but for motorcyclists that’s not the issue. The issue–or beef–is why should we be the ones to feel the impact of something that has nothing to do with us? I mean, if the U.S. feels retaliation is appropriate, why not single out imports of olive oil or some other food product? Something that is at least in a way related. That would also serve to spread the impact around through a broader portion of the population, rather than focusing it sharply on just our small group.
Additionally, I have to wonder just how much impact this is expected to have. The new tariff would only be imposed on bikes between 51cc and 500cc. The manufacturers impacted would be Aprilia, Beta, BMW, Ducati, Fantic, Gas Gas, Husqvarna, KTM, Montesa, Piaggio, Scorpa, Sherco, TM, and Vespa. You know someone like Vespa would be hit pretty hard but think about the Vespa dealers in the U.S.–they’d be hit pretty hard, too. This is something done to benefit Americans? But on the other hand, how many bikes do all of these companies sell here? Can you name a single model in that size range?
As the American Motorcyclist Association (AMA) sums it up, “Should product availability be hindered through unjustified trade sanctions on European-produced motorcycles, dealerships may close, leaving countless Americans without jobs. The negative effects of the proposed trade sanctions will not only harm the motorcycle sales industry, but will spread through the aftermarket equipment sector, recreation equipment sales, the sports entertainment industry and further down the line.”
This all got started before Trump became president so you have to wonder what attitude his administration will take. They might see this as harmful to Americans but they might also decide to double down, maybe increasing the size range to 1000cc or removing the size range entirely.
Anyway, the AMA is urging riders to oppose this proposal before the January 30 end of the comment period. And to that end they have set up a petition page to make it easy for you to do so.
I just sent my remarks. Now it’s your turn.
Biker Quote for Today
Therapy is expensive, wind is cheap.
