Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk has opposed the U.S. imposing tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).
On May 23 (local time), at an EV conference held in Paris, France, Musk stated, “Tariffs distort the market. I oppose any tariffs.” Previously, the Biden administration had raised tariffs on low-cost Chinese EVs from 25% to 100%.
Musk said at the conference, “I support the absence of tariffs and incentives for EVs, oil, and gas. I think it’s best if all of them were removed. It’s not good to hinder free exchange or distort the market.”
Despite his remarks, experts are unanimous in saying that Tesla benefits the most from the Biden administration’s imposition of tariffs. There are also claims that his opposition to U.S. tariffs is due to his consideration of China.
He is currently betting heavily on China, having recently obtained a preliminary autonomous driving license there. Losing favor with the Chinese leadership would be extremely risky.
Accordingly, Yahoo Finance analyzed that it is highly probable that he made a gesture of opposing the tariffs despite being the biggest beneficiary of the U.S. auto tariffs.