Remember when protectionism ‘saved’ Harley-Davidson motorcycles in the 1980s?

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The 1980s comeback of Harley-Davidson motorcycles is often touted as an example of how active trade policy can help the American economy by “creating a level playing field.” Here’s how The New York Times reported it back in 1983:

In an unusually strong protectionist action, President Reagan today ordered a tenfold increase in tariffs for imported heavyweight motorycles. The impact of Mr. Reagan’s action, which followed the unanimous recommendation of his trade advisers, is effectively limited to Japanese manufacturers, which dominate every sector of the American motorycycle market. The action was exceptional for protecting a single American company, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company of Milwaukee, the sole surviving American maker of motorcycles. The only comparable trade action by this Administration, the President’s decision last May to impose quotas on sugar imports for the first time since 1974, was aimed at an entire industry.

Protectionism can have bipartisan support, and this was certainly the case with the Harley-Davidson action. This from the Clinton White House in 1999: “The Harley-Davidson experience is an example that US trade policy can work.”

Read More: http://www.aei.org/publication/remember-when-protectionism-saved-harley-davidson-motorcycles-in-the-1980s/

Here is the real fact: