Drew Angerer/Getty Images President Donald Trump speaks briefly to reporters after greeting Harley Davidson executives on the South Lawn of the White House, February 2, 2017
- President Donald Trump attacked Harley-Davidson once again on Tuesday.
- Trump cited Harley's declining sales as evidence of backlash to their decision to move production out of the US.
- The move was prompted by Trump's trade fight with the European Union.
- But as trade experts pointed out, Trump cited 2017 sales - well before Trump's tariff moves.
President Donald Trump on Tuesday continued to attack iconic motorcycle brand Harley-Davidson, but the latest Twitter strike has a glaring flaw.
"Now that Harley-Davidson is moving part of its operation out of the US, my Administration is working with other Motor Cycle companies who want to move into the US Harley customers are not happy with their move - sales are down 7% in 2017," Trump tweeted. "The US is where the Action is!"
The attack comes after Harley announced that the company would shift some of its production out of the US due to Trump's tariff fight with the European Union.
But there's glaring problem with Trump's attack: The president cited 2017 sales data, but the move was only announced last week.
Harley's sales have been on the decline for four years in a row - the slide started before Trump even announced his run for president. Adam Jonas, Morgan Stanley's automotive analyst, said the long-term demographic trends in the US and other structural issues are much bigger problems for Harley.
"Even before the tariff developments, estimates are depressed for company specific reasons that are very well known," Jonas said. "We believe that these serious issues (e.g. negative demographic trends) are rather long-lived and overshadowing powerful economic forces that should work in [Harley-Davidson's] favor."
The motorcycles brand is in the midst of a multi-year shift in its business as Harley tries to win over younger riders and expand its operation outside of the US.
Trade experts were quick to pick up on the discrepancy following Trump's tweet. Scott Lincicome, trade lawyer and adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, a libertarian-leaning think tank, pointed out that Harley's sales decline has more to do with the aging population of the US and internal trends than their trade decision.
"It's not just Harleys," he said. "US motorcycle sales are down generally, in large part due to demographics (i.e., more old people)."
Ben Steil, director of international economic at the Council on Foreign Relations, joked that the Harley customers must be psychic.
"To punish Harley-Davidson for shifting production out of the US in response to Trump's trade war, Americans went back in time to reduce the company's sales in 2017 - the year Trump thanked them for building in America. Astounding!" Steil tweeted.