President Donald Trump has criticized Harley-Davidson motorcycle over its plans to shift production away from the United States in order to avoid EU tariffs.
In a tweet, he said he was surprised that Harley-Davidson had become “the first to wave the white flag”.
The motorcycle maker earlier said making bikes for the European market would be transferred to other countries.
The European Union tariffs are a response to new US duties on steel and aluminum imports.
President Trump tweeted: “Surprised that Harley-Davidson, of all companies, would be the first to wave the White Flag. I fought hard for them and ultimately they will not pay tariffs selling into the E.U., which has hurt us badly on trade, down $151 Billion. Taxes just a Harley excuse – be patient! #MAGA”
On June 25, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders told reporters at a briefing that the EU was “attempting to punish US workers with unfair and discriminatory trade policies”.
He added: “President Trump will continue to push for free, fair and reciprocal trade, in hopes that the EU will join us.”
The Wisconsin-based company said the increased costs from the EU tariffs were a “substantial” burden and a threat to its international sales, which it has been trying to expand.
Harley-Davidson has assembly plants in Australia, Brazil, India and Thailand as well as in the US.
The company said it would raise investment in its international plants, though it did not say which ones, adding that it expected the increase in production to take nine to 18 months.
Harley-Davidson said the tariffs would add, on average, $2,200 to each bike exported to Europe from the US as the import tax increases from 6% to 31%.
The European Commission has opened an investigation into fast food giant McDonald’s tax affairs.
The investigation will focus on McDonald’s tax deals with Luxembourg.
According to the Commission, the deals allowed McDonald’s to avoid paying taxes in both Luxembourg and the US on royalties from Europe and Russia.
It follows similar investigations into tax deals made by Starbucks and Amazon with some authorities in Europe.
The Commission said two tax rulings given by the Luxembourg authorities in 2009 had allowed McDonald’s Europe Franchising to pay no corporation tax in Luxembourg since then, despite recording large profits. It added that in 2013, McDonald’s profits were more than €250 million.
Commissioner Margrethe Vestager, in charge of EU competition policy, said: “A tax ruling that agrees to McDonald’s paying no tax on their European royalties either in Luxembourg or in the US has to be looked at very carefully under EU state aid rules.
“The purpose of double-taxation treaties between countries is to avoid double taxation – not to justify double non-taxation.”
McDonald’s said in a statement: “McDonald’s complies with all tax laws and rules in Europe and pays a significant amount of corporate income tax. In fact, from 2010-14, the McDonald’s companies paid more than $2.1 billion just in corporate taxes in the European Union, with an average tax rate of almost 27%.
“Additionally, we pay social, real estate and other taxes. Our independent franchisees, who own and operate approximately 75% of our restaurants in Europe, also pay corporate tax and many other taxes.
“We are confident that the inquiry will be resolved favorably.”
Under the first tax ruling in March 2009, tax authorities in Luxembourg agreed to allow McDonald’s to pay no corporation tax on its European earnings in the country, as long as the food chain could prove that it paid tax on those earnings in the US each year.
This was done to avoid McDonald’s becoming subject to double taxation in the EU and the US.
It was subsequently discovered that McDonald’s earnings in the EU were not registered in the US for tax purposes, leaving McDonald’s no way to prove it had paid tax on its European royalties there.
A second tax ruling in September allowed McDonald’s to pay no tax in Luxembourg on its European earnings, without needing to prove it paid tax on those earnings in the US. The Commission said it planned to investigate whether this amounted to state aid.
The latest Commission investigation comes two months after it ordered Luxembourg to recover up to €30 million from Fiat Chrysler and the Dutch to do the same for Starbucks, because their tax deals were seen as unlawful aid.
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