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| Headlines like the one above lead Scott Walker to hide, and Donald Trump to threaten Harley Davidson as Trump's trade war escalates and victims multiply. Half-way through Trump's second year, many Americans are "sick of winning." Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, June 26, 2018 |
Trump Warns Harley-Davidson: "beginning of the end" for Company
Gov. Scott Walker goes dark
- Analysis -Updated - Madison, Wisconsin — Gov. Scott Walker's continuing silence on attacks against a venerable national institution, Harley-Davidson, located in Milwaukee is drawing howls from across the state.
From One Wisconsin Now:
What's next? Trump attacks beer and children?"@ScottWalker is so afraid of getting a Trump rage tweet that he won’t even stand up for a Wisconsin business.” -- our @rossacrosswi on Walker's latest fecklessnesshttps://t.co/wsgIAN7oCI— One Wisconsin Now (@onewisconsinnow) June 26, 2018
Donald Trump warned Harley-Davidson its move of divisions to Europe to off-set retaliatory tariffs from Europe means "the beginning of the end" for the Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturing company.
It's a strange spectacle to hear an American president threaten and scold an American company like Harley-Davidson, after Trump's trade war with the European Union, Mexico and Canada provoked predictable reactions with new levies on "products from politically important states that supported Mr. Trump, like Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin," (NYT), (The Politico).
The impulsive Trump has manufactured a crises, started a trade war now escalating, and working families and venerable institutions are taking hits.
"Shares of Harley-Davidson fell nearly 6 percent in afternoon trading" yesterday, reports the NYT.
Gov. Scott Walker (R) has taken an unusual approach to communications with the Wisconsin people asking for answers about Harley: Avoidance.
Reports Scott Bauer from the Associated Press:
Scott Walker remains obsequious to Donald Trump, and when Trump screws over working families, in Scott Walker's mind, it's time to hide and be silent.No comment yet from avid Harley rider @GovWalker in the face of these new full-throttled attacks from @realDonaldTrump against the iconic Milwaukee-based motorcycle manufacturer.— Scott Bauer (@sbauerAP) June 26, 2018
Oh, and Trump is joining Walker on Thursday in Wisconsin for the groundbreaking of the Foxconn plant https://t.co/R7jhN5FNkh
The AP reports:
Walker has avoided directly criticizing Trump on the issue, saying instead that no tariffs would be good for Wisconsin manufacturers and farmers.From the NYT:
The Harley bashing comes as Trump is scheduled to join Walker in Wisconsin on Thursday for the groundbreaking of a Foxconn Technology Group factory.
The Wisconsin company said on Monday it would shift some production of its bikes overseas to avoid stiff retaliatory tariffs imposed by the European Union in response to Mr. Trump’s trade measures. The company said the move 'is not the company’s preference, but represents the only sustainable option to make its motorcycles accessible to customers in the E.U. and maintain a viable business in Europe.'
Mr. Trump’s trade war is beginning to ripple through the United States economy as companies struggle with a cascade of tariffs here and abroad. While Mr. Trump says his trade policy is aimed at reviving domestic manufacturing, Harley-Davidson’s move shows how the White House approach could backfire as American companies increasingly rely on overseas markets for materials, production and sales.
Scott Walker is sitting out the Harley-Davidson issue out because he knows and cares even less than Trump about actual working families.
Meanwhile, Americans across the ideological spectrum would prefer Donald Trump to stop the trade war, bring the jobs home.
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