Speaker Paul Ryan talks taxes at Harley-Davidson

MENOMONEE FALLS - House Speaker Paul Ryan made a Monday stop at the Harley-Davidson factory here, where he touted tax overhaul and job creation efforts.

Ryan toured the facility and met with company executives and union leaders.

"We are taxing American manufacturers, American businesses and American jobs at a much, much, much higher tax rate than what our foreign competitors are taxing theirs, and as a result American businesses and American jobs are being put at a big competitive disadvantage," Ryan said. "Tax reform can fix that. Tax reform can stop punishing companies for making things in America and selling them overseas."

He said Republican leaders would lay out a framework next week for tax overhaul plans.

Harley-Davidson engines and transmissions are produced at the Menomonee Falls plant. About 1,000 production workers are employed at the facility, but the company has announced plans to cut about 180 production jobs, with Menomonee Falls and Kansas City locations expected to be hit the hardest.

Last week, two labor unions that represent most of the production employees at Harley-Davidson Inc. said they had terminated an agreement with the company that had fostered collaboration and joint decisions on a wide range of issues. The United Steelworkers and the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers said ending the agreement, which was in place for 22 years, sent a message that relations with Milwaukee-based Harley have soured.

RELATED:Labor unions end partnership agreement with Harley-Davidson

In May, Harley-Davidson upset the unions when it announced plans to operate a motorcycle assembly plant in Thailand.

The company has said the plant, scheduled to open in 2018, wouldn’t result in any U.S. job losses and that it would assemble bikes from components produced at U.S. facilities.

Ryan said he had spoken to Harley leaders about their plans to open the plant abroad.

"They are facing no choice if they want to sell into the Asian market, which is a two-wheel culture with massive market potential. They have to get behind this tariff wall," Ryan said. "The answer, of course, is to open up markets. The answer, of course, is to go get trade agreements that give us access to markets so that we can make things here and sell them overseas."

Ryan added he hopes to focus on trade agreements as GOP leaders push for their tax overhaul plan.

During the visit, Ryan called the Graham-Cassidy health care bill "our best, last chance to get repeal and replace" of Obamacare done.

RELATED:Republicans make last push to repeal Obamacare, but it is not clear they have the votes

"It would be our intention to bring the matter through," Ryan said of the bill sponsored by Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Sen. Bill Cassidy of Louisiana.

Ryan also toured New Berlin Eisenhower High School earlier Monday.