Let’s simplify what’s happening with the tariffs, prices and the economy for motorcyclists: First the good news! You can now buy a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle for under $10k (56%* higher in Canada) thanks to just announced price cuts. Unknown if this is to realign H-D prices to competition or it’s because of tariff’s, but it’s still good news. Now the set of bad news. That price cut is only for Americans, there is no price cuts for Canadians or anyone else around the world and it’s only on the 2025 Harley-Davidson Nightster with the biggest discount on the base Billiard Gray color. Also tariffs will only increase motorcycle prices in the USA, Canada, Europe, UK and very likely around the world thanks to a slew of counter-tariffs and counter-counter tariffs!

I’m very happy to see Harley-Davidson lower prices, it’s a great move, but it’s a drop in the bucket and $500 on a $10,499 motorcycle is nice but it’s less than 5% off and it’s on one bike. Already H-D announced a $110k motorcycle last week. If we start to see bikes not adjust lower in price from the manufacturers and dealers then we are in for a world of hurt like we haven’t seen since the mid-1980’s that extended to over 10 years of stagnation in the industry.

Like we have seen in the technology sector who has been hit with greater than 25% prices already, MSRP is now the “deal” or “sale” price and you can’t find products at MSRP anymore. So who knows how many of these $9,999.00 2025 Harley-Davidson Nightster motorcycles exist or will be even made before they get hit with 25%, 50% or even 100% tariffs.

May I make a recommendation that you go out and buy it TODAY if you’re interested, as the threat of all these tariffs between Canada and USA means that even this cheaper Harley-Davidson model is only going to go up! Yes, you heard that correctly, prices on motorcycles that either cross the border as a finished unit or are made using parts from each other’s countries, is bound to go up. It’s true… Motorcycles ARE on both on the list of tariffs being imposed by USA (25% all products*) and Canada’s reciprocal (25% on motorcycles along with $60 Billion of other goods) in retaliation to the original tariffs launched by the USA. Plus most bikes are made of steel, aluminum, copper and use rubber tires (+25% different tariff) AND most motorcycles and motorcycle parts in the manufacturing process cross borders multiple times (each time it crosses add tariffs), So you get the gist here right… HURRY UP and BUY NOW before that model goes from $9,999 to over $20,000! Heck, buy anything at MSRP right now that’s on the showroom floor! In Canada that same $9,999 model is 56%** higher and only going up once additional tariffs come into play April 2nd. Remember ALL THESE TARIFFS STACK ON TOP OF EACH OTHER!

I’ve included the appropriate US and Canada tariff stories below if you have time to skim or read them.

It’s complex, it’s complicated and it’s hurting every industry with the motorcycle industry in a vulnerable position already due to aging riders, global manufacturing and parts and motorcycles not being a primary vehicle for the majority of riders in North America. Listen, on this side of the equation we are all worried and concerned about this and already there’s been a lot of store closings, layoffs and 40% of businesses now say they intend to layoff this year. That’s hundreds of thousands of jobs if not millions. We are potentially looking at a situation worse than the “2020 pandemic” here.

I hate to be chicken little here, but we are seeing parts of the sky now on the ground and there’s more to come.

Check out all the new 2025 motorcycle model reviews in our guides and the new 2025 Harley-Davidson motorcycles right here on Total Motorcycle today! You won’t find a faster way and detailed information resource out there than TMW!

* CUSMA and/or NAFTA agreements may or may not affect some parts), ** 12,499 CAD + 25% tariff = $15,623.75 CAD

HARLEY-DAVIDSON NIGHTSTER MODEL IS NOW AVAILABLE FOR UNDER $10,000

Motorcycle Tariff’s Currently in Effect at a Glance

Canada’s countermeasures include:

• Imposing tariffs on $30 billion in goods imported from the U.S., effective March 4, 2025.
  • Canada’s countermeasures list includes products such as orange juice, peanut butter, wine, spirits, beer, coffee, appliances, apparel, footwear, motorcycles, cosmetics, and certain paper products.
• Canada will apply counter tariffs on additional imports from the U.S. on April 2

ADDRESSING AN EMERGENCY SITUATION: The extraordinary threat posed by illegal aliens and drugs, including deadly fentanyl, constitutes a national emergency under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).

• Until the crisis is alleviated, President Donald J. Trump is implementing a 25% additional tariff on imports from Canada and Mexico and a 10% additional tariff on imports from China.  Energy resources from Canada will have a lower 10% tariff.
• President Trump is taking bold action to hold Mexico, Canada, and China accountable to their promises of halting illegal immigration and stopping poisonous fentanyl and other drugs from flowing into our country.
• The orders make clear that the flow of contraband drugs like fentanyl to the United States, through illicit distribution networks, has created a national emergency, including a public health crisis. Chinese officials have failed to take the actions necessary to stem the flow of precursor chemicals to known criminal cartels and shut down money laundering by transnational criminal organizations.
  • In addition, the Mexican drug trafficking organizations have an intolerable alliance with the government of Mexico. The government of Mexico has afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and transportation of dangerous narcotics, which collectively have led to the overdose deaths of hundreds of thousands of American victims. This alliance endangers the national security of the United States, and we must eradicate the influence of these dangerous cartels.
  • There is also a growing presence of Mexican cartels operating fentanyl and nitazene synthesis labs in Canada.  A recent study recognized Canada’s heightened domestic production of fentanyl, and its growing footprint within international narcotics distribution

USING OUR LEVERAGE TO ENSURE AMERICANS’ SAFETY: Previous Administrations failed to fully leverage America’s economic position as a tool to secure our borders against illegal migration and combat the scourge of fentanyl, preferring to let problems fester.

• Access to the American market is a privilege. The United States has one of the most open economies in the world, and the lowest average tariff rates in the world.
• While trade accounts for 67% of Canada’s GDP, 73% of Mexico’s GDP, and 37% of China’s GDP, it accounts for only 24% of U.S. GDP. However, in 2023 the U.S. trade deficit in goods was the world’s largest at over $1 trillion.
• Tariffs are a powerful, proven source of leverage for protecting the national interest.  President Trump is using the tools at hand and taking decisive action that puts Americans’ safety and our national security first.
• Though previous Administrations have failed to leverage America’s combination of exceptional strength and its unique role in world trade to advance the security interests of the American people, President Trump has not.

PRESIDENT TRUMP IS KEEPING HIS PROMISE TO STOP THE FLOOD OF ILLEGAL ALIENS AND DRUGS: When voters overwhelmingly elected Donald J. Trump as President, they gave him a mandate to seal the border. That is exactly what he is doing.

• The Biden Administration’s policies have fueled the worst border crisis in U.S. history.

• More than 10 million illegal aliens attempted to enter the United States under Biden’s leadership, including a rising number of Chinese nationals and people on the terror watchlist.
• This problem is not confined to the southern border – encounters at the northern border with Canada are rising as well.
• The sustained influx of illegal aliens has profound consequences on every aspect of our national life – overwhelming our schools, lowering our wages, reducing our housing supply and raising rents, overcrowding our hospitals, draining our welfare system, and causing crime.
• Gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illegal drugs and narcotics of all kinds are pouring across our borders and into our communities.
  • Last fiscal year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended more than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl at our borders, enough fentanyl to kill more than 4 billion people.
  • It is estimated that federal officials are only able to seize a fraction of the fentanyl smuggled across the southern border.
• These drugs kill tens of thousands of Americans each year, including 75,000 deaths per year attributed to fentanyl alone.
  • More Americans are dying from fentanyl overdoses each year than the number of American lives lost in the entirety of the Vietnam War.

BUILDING ON PAST SUCCESS: President Trump continues to demonstrate his commitment to ensuring U.S. trade policy serves the national interest.

• As President Trump said in the Presidential Memorandum on American First Trade Policy, trade policy is a critical component in national security.
• President Trump promised in November to “sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
• During his first term as President of the United States, President Trump established the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis and declared the Opioid Crisis a public health emergency.
• President Trump also has a long record of putting America first on trade. In his first term, President Trump successfully used threats of tariffs on Mexico to help secure our border.
• When our national security was threatened by a global oversupply of steel and aluminum, President Trump took swift action to protect America’s national security by implementing tariffs on imports of these goods.
• In response to China’s intellectual property theft, forced technology transfer, and other unreasonable behavior, President Trump acted with conviction to impose tariffs on imports from China, using that leverage to reach a historic bilateral economic agreement.
• Just last week, President Trump leveraged tariffs to successfully resolve national security concerns with Colombia, swiftly reaching an outcome that prioritizes the safety and security of the American people and the sanctity of our national borders.

SAFEGUARDING THE NATION: President Donald J. Trump is proceeding with implementing tariffs on Canada and Mexico under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to combat the extraordinary threat to U.S. national security, including our public health posed by unchecked drug trafficking.

• While President Trump gave both Canada and Mexico ample opportunity to curb the dangerous cartel activity and influx of lethal drugs flowing into our country, they have failed to adequately address the situation.
• The flow of contraband drugs like fentanyl into the United States, through illicit distribution networks, has created a national emergency, including a public health crisis.
• Mexican drug trafficking organizations, the world’s leading fentanyl traffickers, operate unhindered due to an intolerable relationship with the government of Mexico.
  • The government of Mexico has afforded safe havens for the cartels to engage in the manufacturing and transportation of dangerous narcotics, which collectively have led to the overdose deaths of hundreds of thousands of American victims.
  • Mexican drug cartels are known for extreme brutality, corruption, and control over entire regions of Mexico.
  • The Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels manufacture fentanyl in clandestine labs they oversee in Mexico, in both powder form and pressed into fake pills, and traffic it into the United States through the many entry points they control. 97% of seizures occur at the U.S.-Mexico border.
  • Cartel violence, including armed drones and roadside IEDs, are coming in closer and closer proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border as cartels are more actively targeting one another as well as Mexican military and law enforcement personnel.
  • This alliance with the Mexican government endangers the national security of the United States, and we must eradicate the influence of these dangerous cartels.
• There is also a growing presence of Mexican cartels operating fentanyl and nitazene synthesis labs in Canada.
  • A recent study recognized Canada’s heightened domestic production of fentanyl, and its growing footprint within international narcotics distribution.
  • Canada-based drug trafficking organizations maintain robust “super labs,” mostly in rural and dense areas in western Canada, some of which can produce 44 to 66 pounds of fentanyl weekly.
  • Last year’s northern border fentanyl seizures, though smaller than Mexico’s, could kill 9.5 million Americans due to the drug’s potency—proof of Canada’s growing role in this crisis.
  • Fentanyl seizures at the northern border in the first four months of this fiscal year are quickly closing in on what was seized the entirety of  fiscal year 2022.
• Both nations’ failure to arrest traffickers, seize drugs, or coordinate with U.S. law enforcement constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to America’s security—demanding IEEPA action to force accountability and protect American lives.

PRESIDENT TRUMP IS KEEPING HIS PROMISE TO STOP THE FLOOD OF ILLEGAL ALIENS AND DRUGS: When voters overwhelmingly elected Donald J. Trump as President, they gave him a mandate to seal the border. That is exactly what he is doing.

• The Biden Administration’s policies fueled the worst border crisis in U.S. history.
  • More than 10 million illegal aliens attempted to enter the United States under Biden’s leadership.
  • This problem is not confined to the southern border—encounters at the northern border with Canada are rising as well.
  • The sustained influx of illegal aliens has profound consequences on every aspect of our national life—overwhelming our schools, lowering our wages, reducing our housing supply and raising rents, overcrowding our hospitals, draining our welfare system, and causing crime.
  • Gang members, smugglers, human traffickers, and illegal drugs and narcotics of all kinds are pouring across our borders and into our communities.
    • Last fiscal year, Customs and Border Protection (CBP) apprehended more than 21,000 pounds of fentanyl at our borders, enough fentanyl to kill more than 4 billion people.
    • Since 2023, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has seized more than 25,697 kilograms of fentanyl pills and more than 7,272 kilograms of fentanyl powder at the southern border, and more than 659 kilograms of fentanyl pills and more than 650 kilograms of fentanyl powder at the northern border.
    • From 2021 to present, fentanyl has been the leading cause of drug overdose deaths in the U.S., followed by methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin in that order.
    • According to the CDC, 68 percent of all drug poisoning deaths in 2022 and 2023—216,294 total—were caused by synthetic opioids, primarily fentanyl.
    • It is estimated that federal officials are only able to seize a fraction of the fentanyl smuggled across the southern border.
    • More Americans are dying from fentanyl overdoses each year than the number of American lives lost in the entirety of the Vietnam War.

BUILDING ON PAST SUCCESS: President Trump continues to demonstrate his commitment to ensuring U.S. trade policy serves the national interest.

• As President Trump said in the Presidential Memorandum on American First Trade Policy, trade policy is a critical component in national security.
• President Trump promised in November to “sign all necessary documents to charge Mexico and Canada a 25% Tariff on ALL products coming into the United States, and its ridiculous Open Borders. This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country!”
• During his first term as President of the United States, President Trump established the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis and declared the Opioid Crisis a public health emergency.
• President Trump also has a long record of putting America first on trade. In his first term, President Trump successfully used threats of tariffs on Mexico to help secure our border.
• When our national security was threatened by a global oversupply of steel and aluminum, President Trump took swift action to protect America’s national security by implementing tariffs on imports of these goods.

COUNTERING TRADE PRACTICES THAT UNDERMINE NATIONAL SECURITY: Yesterday, President Donald J. Trump signed proclamations to close existing loopholes and exemptions to restore a true 25% tariff on steel and elevate the tariff to 25% on aluminum.

• President Trump is taking action to protect America’s critical steel and aluminum industries, which have been harmed by unfair trade practices and global excess capacity.

• President Trump is reinstating the full 25% tariff on steel imports and increasing tariffs on aluminum imports to 25%.
  • Key reforms include eliminating all alternative agreements, applying strict “melted and poured” standards, expanding tariffs to include key downstream products, terminating all general approved exclusions, and cracking down on tariff misclassification and duty evasion schemes.
• The countries of Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the European Union, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom had received exemptions, which prevented the tariffs from being effective.
  • By granting exemptions to certain countries, the United States inadvertently created loopholes that were exploited by China and others with excess steel and aluminum capacity, undermining the purpose of these exemptions.
• The President is exercising his authority under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 to adjust imports of steel and aluminum to protect our national security.
  • This statute provides the President with authority to adjust imports being brought into the United States in quantities or under circumstances that threaten to impair national security.
  • In March 2018, President Trump invoked authority under Section 232 of the Trade Expansion Act of 1962 (19 U.S.C. § 1862) to impose 25% tariffs on steel imports and 10% tariffs on aluminum.  These measures were remarkably effective in supporting recovery and reinvestment in the American steel industry and saved the domestic primary aluminum industry from total collapse. But exemptions and loopholes have permitted evasion of the tariffs and weakened the effectiveness of the program.
  • The reinvigorated Section 232 tariffs on steel and aluminum will support the program’s original objective of revitalizing the domestic steel and aluminum industries and achieving sustainable capacity utilization of at least 80%.

Trump threatens further tariffs as EU, Canada retaliate for those already in place

WASHINGTON, March 12 (Reuters) – Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to escalate a global trade war with further tariffs on European Union goods, as major U.S. trading partners said they would retaliate for trade barriers already erected by the U.S. president.

Just hours after Trump’s 25% duties on all U.S. steel and aluminum imports took effect, Trump said he would impose additional penalties if the EU follows through with its plan to enact counter tariffs on some U.S. goods next month. “Whatever they charge us, we’re charging them,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

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Trump’s hyper-focus on tariffs has rattled investor, consumer and business confidence and raised recession fears. He also has frayed relations with Canada, a close ally and major trading partner, by repeatedly threatening to annex the neighboring country.

Canada, the biggest foreign supplier of steel and aluminum to the United States, announced 25% retaliatory tariffs on those metals along with computers, sports equipment and other products worth $20 billion in total. Canada has already imposed tariffs worth a similar amount on U.S. goods in response to broader tariffs by Trump.

“We will not stand idly by while our iconic steel and aluminum industries are being unfairly targeted,” Canada’s Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc said.

Canada’s central bank also cut interest rates to prepare for economic disruption.

Trump’s action to bulk up protections for American steel and aluminum producers restores effective tariffs of 25% on all imports and extends the duties to hundreds of downstream products, from nuts and bolts to bulldozer blades and soda cans.

U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Trump would impose trade protections on copper as well.

With Wednesday’s tariff increase well flagged in advance, global stocks were barely changed.
But the back and forth has left companies unnerved, and producers of luxury cars and chemicals painted a gloomy picture of consumer and industrial health. More than 900 of the 1,500 largest U.S. companies have mentioned tariffs on earnings calls or at investor events this year, according to LSEG data.

“We are in a trade war and when a trade war begins, it tends to sustain itself and feed itself,” Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury said on French television.

JPMorgan’s chief economist forecast a 40% chance of a U.S. recession this year and lasting damage to the country’s standing as a reliable investment destination if Trump undermines trust in U.S. governance.

A steep U.S. stocks selloff in March has wiped out all of the gains notched by Wall Street following Trump’s election.

Effective March 4, 2025, the Government of Canada is imposing 25 per cent tariffs on $30 billion in goods imported from the United States (U.S.).

These tariffs only apply to goods originating from the U.S., which shall be considered as those goods eligible to be marked as a good of the U.S. in accordance with the Determination of Country of Origin for the Purposes of Marking Goods (CUSMA Countries) Regulations.

These countermeasures are effective as of 12:01 a.m., March 4, 2025, and will remain in place until the U.S. eliminates its tariffs against Canadian goods. Canada’s countermeasures do not apply to U.S. goods that are in transit to Canada on the day on which they come into force. Additional details on the administration of these tariffs are available on the Canada Border Services Agency website: Customs Notices (cbsa-asfc.gc.ca).

The list of products outlined at the tariff item level in the table below should be read in conjunction with the Schedule to Canada’s Customs Tariff.

Canada’s response to U.S. tariffs on Canadian goods

The Government of Canada has a comprehensive plan to fight back against the unjustified U.S. tariffs imposed on Canadian goods while supporting Canada’s interests, industries, and workers.

What is Canada’s plan in response to U.S. tariffs?

On March 4, 2025, the U.S. imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian exports, and 10 per cent on energy product exports from Canada.

Canada has responded to the U.S. imposition of tariffs on Canadian goods by introducing a first set of countermeasures designed to compel the U.S. to remove the tariffs as soon as possible.

Canada’s countermeasures include:

• Imposing tariffs on $30 billion in goods imported from the U.S., effective March 4, 2025.
  • Canada’s countermeasures list includes products such as orange juice, peanut butter, wine, spirits, beer, coffee, appliances, apparel, footwear, motorcycles, cosmetics, and certain paper products.
• Canada will apply counter tariffs on additional imports from the U.S. on April 2 following the public comment period.

On March 12, the U.S. imposed tariffs of 25 per cent on Canadian steel and aluminum products.

Canada’s countermeasures include:

• Following a dollar-for-dollar approach, Canada is imposing, as of 12:01 am, March 13, 2025, 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on a list of steel products worth $12.6 billion and aluminum products worth $3 billion, as well as additional imported U.S. goods worth $14.2 billion, for a total of $29.8 billion. The list of additional products affected by counter tariffs includes tools, computers and servers, display monitors, sport equipment, and cast-iron products.

All options remain on the table as the government considers additional measures, including non-tariff options, should the U.S. continue to apply unjustified tariffs on Canada.