Editor's Pick: The symbolism of Harley Davidson

(The Editor's Pick is a new newsletter from The Hindu that provides a snapshot of the most important stories from today's edition of our newspaper, along with a note from our top editors on why we chose to give prominence to these stories.)

All indications are that the iconic U.S. bike maker Harley-Davidson will exit its India operations. It has apparently reached out to some automobile makers to take over operations at its assembly plant in Haryana. Weak sales and low prospects for growth are being cited as the reasons for the proposed exit. Harley-Davidson has been suffering falling sales in its primary market in the U.S. as well.

U.S. President Donald Trump had made Harley-Davidson bikes a major bone of contention in his trade tussle with India. He had cited the "100 per cent tariff" on the import of these bikes, to brand India a "tariff king". He personally brought up the company several times in talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, resulting in the PM directly assuring him of a reduction in tariffs to 50 per cent. Even this, however, was unacceptable to Mr. Trump.

Mr. Trump's hyper focus on this particular brand makes its exit all the more glaring, and gives the story greater importance. This is also the second major exit of a U.S. automobile maker from India in recent years, with GM having shut shop in 2017.