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Trump still upset about Harley-Davidson

Published:Wednesday | June 27, 2018 | 12:00 AM
In this April 26, 2017, file photo, rows of motorcycles are behind a bronze plate with corporate information on the showroom floor at a Harley-Davidson dealership in Glenshaw, Pa. (AP)

United States president Donald

Trump warned Harley-Davidson on Wednesday "we won't forget" about the company's decision to shift some motorcycle production overseas, and suggested that the Wisconsin-based company will lose out to its competitors.

His comments extended his feud with Harley-Davidson into a third day, tweeting that the motorcycle manufacturer, which already has some production in foreign markets, "should stay 100 per cent in America". He added: "I've done so much for you, and then this."

"We won't forget, and neither will your customers or your now very HAPPY competitors!" Trump tweeted.

Harley-Davidson said Monday it was moving production of motorcycles sold in Europe from US factories to facilities overseas because of retaliatory tariffs it faces in an escalating trade dispute between Trump's administration and the European Union. Harley-Davidson spokesman Michael Pflughoeft declined to comment on the president's tweet.

The iconic motorcycle brand is the latest US corporation to run afoul of the US president, who has also attacked Amazon.

Trump, who will hold events in Wisconsin on Thursday, threatened Harley-Davidson earlier in the week, writing that any shift in production "will be the beginning of the end". He added: "The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!"

Trump tweeted Tuesday that Harley-Davidson had already announced it was closing a Kansas City plant and moving those jobs to Thailand.

But union officials are the ones who claimed the jobs were being shifted to Thailand. Harley-Davidson has denied a link between Kansas City and Thailand.

Harley-Davidson executives met with Trump at the White House last year after Trump cancelled a visit to the company's headquarters in Milwaukee because protests had been planned.

AP