FILE - In this April 26, 2017, file photo, rows of motorcycles are behind a bronze plate with corporate information on the showroom floor at a Harley-Davidson dealership in Glenshaw, Pa. Harley-Davidson, facing rising costs from new tariffs, will begin shifting the production of motorcycles heading for Europe from the U.S. to factories overseas. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File)
FILE - In this April 26, 2017, file photo, rows of motorcycles are behind a bronze plate with corporate information on the showroom floor at a Harley-Davidson dealership in Glenshaw, Pa. Harley-Davidson, facing rising costs from new tariffs, will begin shifting the production of motorcycles heading for Europe from the U.S. to factories overseas. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, File) Credit: Keith Srakocic

Washington — President Donald Trump denied on Tuesday that his trade policy is to blame for Harley-Davidson’s decision to shift some motorcycle production overseas, saying on Twitter that the company is using “Tariffs/Trade War as an excuse” to hide previously announced plans to move jobs to Asia.

The Milwaukee-based company said on Monday it came to its decision because of retaliatory tariffs it faces in an escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and the European Union. The company had no immediate response on Tuesday to the president’s assertions.

Trump warned Harley-Davidson that any shift in production “will be the beginning of the end.”

“The Aura will be gone and they will be taxed like never before!” Trump said in one of several tweets on Tuesday. He was referring to tariffs Harley-Davidson would face on motorcycles produced overseas and shipped back to the U.S. for sale.

The president has held up the iconic American motorcycle maker as an example of a U.S. business harmed by trade barriers in other countries, but Harley-Davidson had warned that tariffs could negatively impact its sales.

Trump recently imposed steep tariffs on aluminum and steel imported from Canada, Mexico and Europe in his bid to level the trade playing field and reduce trade deficits between the U.S. and its trade partners. But those countries have treated Trump’s action as an insult and have chosen to respond in kind.