Catch up on the top industries and stocks that were impacted by the comments, actions and policies of President Trump and his administration with this weekly recap:
1. HARLEY-DAVIDSON:
On Tuesday, Harley-Davidson (HOG) announced that it would be absorbing the entirety of the impact from recently enacted retaliatory tariffs on motorcycles imported from the U.S. into Europe and plans to move some production to avoid the tariffs, a process that is expected to take 9 to 18 months to complete.
In a series of tweets the following day, President Trump took aim at the company, saying it is using tariffs and the “trade war” as “an excuse.” He went on to tweet: “A Harley-Davidson should never be built in another country-never! Their employees and customers are already very angry at them. If they move, watch, it will be the beginning of the end – they surrendered, they quit! The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!”
On Friday, Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas called engaging the President directly on issues of foreign trade a “rather risky PR strategy.” Jonas believes the move to potentially reduce U.S. production capacity is mainly the result of declining U.S. demand, not EU taxes, and he also is not convinced the company will really move production to Thailand or India to make bikes for the EU market.
2. BROWN-FORMAN:
Taking a different approach, Brown-Forman (BF-A) said it will hike prices on its whiskeys, including its Jack Daniel’s brand, in certain European countries to combat tariffs placed on U.S. bourbon, according to Reuters. Brown-Forman spokesman Phil Lynch said that anyone looking to purchase Jack Daniel’s or Woodford Reserve whiskey in the impacted countries should expect to see the price of a standard 700 ml bottle rise by about 10%, the report added.
3. CHINA TECH INVESTMENT: The Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with administration plans, that President Trump plans to ban many Chinese companies from investing in U.S. technology firms and blocking additional technology exports to Beijing. However, later in the week, the White House said it would use the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., rather than executive orders, to limit investments by China in U.S. technology companies.
