Op-Ed: “Harley Davidson: The Court of Justice’s Clarification of the economic Justification Test concerning Retaliatory Duties”

On 21 November 2024, the Court of Justice of the EU (‘CJEU’) delivered its judgment in Harley Davidson (C-297/23 P), a dispute concerning the application of retaliatory customs duties imposed by the EU on the U.S. amid trade tensions during the first Trump Administration.

At its core, the case revolved around the question of whether Harley Davidson’s partial relocation of its motorcycle production facilities from the U.S. to Thailand was ‘economically justified’. The response to this question determined whether its motorcycles were to be deemed of Thai origin, thereby avoiding the application of duties.

This Op-Ed examines, in particular, the Court’s analysis regarding the economic justification test, a legal requirement wh