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August 13, 2018 – (Delafield, WI) – Ronica Cleary, Communications Director for Marine veteran and political outsider Kevin Nicholson, issued the following statement regarding President Trump’s trade policies and their effect on Harley Davidson:
“As Kevin said on the radio today, the President’s policies will help Harley Davidson succeed in new markets and make a boycott unnecessary. The President’s goal is that Wisconsin companies succeed and not have to face tariffs abroad.”
On the Stephen Scaffidi radio program, Kevin spoke at length about the issue:
Scaffidi: Before we get to all the election stuff here I want to ask you the President has called for essentially a boycott of Harley Davidson do you support a boycott?
Nicholson: Look, our goal should be that every single great Wisconsin company remain a great Wisconsin company. And the goal should be a world free of tariffs that Harley and every other company in our state’s going to benefit from. And the negotiations we’ve seen already have been successful and you only need to look at the EU to see it happening. There’s a real time example which has been severely underreported where the EU is already coming back to say that they’re going to lower tariffs on American products. That needs to be our goal, that needs to be our sole focus. I don’t want to see Harley Davidson boycotted because I want to see them succeeding and selling into new markets without tariffs and that’s going to be the goal. The President’s case is look let’s all get on board with this plan to keep the focus on getting rid of tariffs abroad he’s got the right objective here and he needs to keep his focus on that. He needs Senator too who understand the importance of getting rid of these tariffs in other countries and that’s got to be the goal.
Scaffidi: This is no surprise, I’ve talked to you a number of times and you’ve supported the President in most of the things he’s done. If not all the things he’s done. On this one it’s different, it’s a little more challenging because you have a great, iconic Wisconsin company who has a lot of supporters, a lot of Harley riders in this state. And to push back on a company that’s very important to our economy is a big deal to voters. You obviously have to think about that as you head towards tomorrow’s election.
Nicholson: Well look I don’t see these two things as mutually exclusive I see Harley Davidson benefiting from the idea of pushing back on tariffs in other countries. And look Harley has had to and anyone who’s working in business right now understands this Harley has had to adapt its business model and frankly it’s assembly work to the tariffs that exist in other countries right now. Our agricultural producers have had to do the same thing they have adapted to 270% tariffs put on Wisconsin dairy products headed to Canada. But the bottom line is and I get it business have had to invest in a business model where they’ve had to make it work because of these deals that were put in place by professional politicians to both Republicans and Democrats over too many years and Tammy Baldwin is a huge part of that problem. But the bottom line is we can apply pressure to our trade partners because we have the leverage to do so and not to permanently disadvantage them either but just to make this an honest to goodness free trade environment without tariffs and I think that’s totally fair. And my faith is with Harley Davidson with Wisconsin dairy producers and with other Wisconsin manufacturers that have the ability to produce superior quality products and do so more efficiently than people elsewhere in the world can do. Let’s let them compete let’s let them get their products into new markets and they will be successful. So these are not two mutually exclusive things the President’s objective is to lower tariffs to make it easier for Harley and other Wisconsin companies to compete same thing without farmers.
Nicholson is a decorated Marine Corps veteran who served combat tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He currently works as a business consultant, helping companies solve their toughest problems. He is a first-time candidate running in the Republican primary to defeat Democrat Tammy Baldwin. He and his wife live in Delafield with their three young children.
