Monday, July 2, 2018

An Open Letter to Donald Trump on the Harley-Davidson Question



2 July 2018

Mr. Donald Trump
1600 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20500

Mr. Trump:

In a recent interview with Maria Bartiromo you fumed about Harley-Davidson’s plans to move more of its production to foreign countries. I’m confused. I thought that you’d be delighted by Harley’s plans.

After all, when we Americans increase our investments abroad we buy fewer imports than we would otherwise buy. Such increased investment thus helps to achieve one of your central and much-ballyhooed goals, namely, a lower U.S. trade deficit. And so rather than complain about Harley’s response to your trade belligerence, you should applaud that company and fĂȘte its executives with a big White House gala!

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux
Professor of Economics
and
Martha and Nelson Getchell Chair for the Study of Free Market Capitalism at the Mercatus Center
George Mason University
Fairfax, VA 22030

The above originally appeared at Cafe Hayek.

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