Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, expressed through a video link at a party congress held last Saturday (April 5) by the right-wing ruling party "Lega Nord" in Florence, saying, "I hope that the United States and Europe can form a closer partnership than before." He also said, "Regarding tariffs, I hope we can work toward zero tariffs and establish a free trade zone between Europe and North America."
Obviously, Musk expressed dissatisfaction with Trump's reciprocal tariff policy.
In addition, Musk also criticized Peter Navarro, the chief trade advisor of the Trump administration. On Saturday, he responded to a post praising Navarro on social platform X from a user. Musk wrote, "Having a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard is not a good thing, but rather a bad thing. The result is overconfidence/mind >> 1 problem." He also added that Navarro "did nothing." (Navarro holds a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard.)
A day later, Navarro told Fox News, "He has X. He has a big microphone. We don't mind if he says anything he wants to say, but the American people need to know that we understand how this all works."
Navarro has always been a staunch supporter of tariffs, reportedly preaching to Trump when he was finalizing new policy details.
Musk's call for zero tariffs between the U.S. and Europe appears economically rational at first glance, but it is actually driven by Tesla's survival needs. Tesla's supply chain is highly dependent on globalization, with components coming from all over the world, while Trump's tariff policies directly increase production costs. More importantly, Tesla's sales in the European market plummeted by 49% in the first two months of this year, and the Italian market also fell by 7%. These figures show that tariffs not only put pressure on Tesla's profits but also further weakened its competitiveness in the European market.
He knows that if the global system collapses, companies like Tesla will have nowhere to escape.
Trump's tariff policy essentially reflects economic nationalism, attempting to bring manufacturing back to the U.S. through "zero-sum game," but this strategy ignores the complexity of globalization. Tesla's supply chain is highly dependent on international cooperation, and any unilateral policy will have a direct impact on it.
From the perspective of policy philosophy, Musk has significant differences with Navarro and the Trump administration on trade concepts. As a staunch supporter of tariffs, Navarro represents the position of trade protectionism, believing that tariffs can solve problems such as trade deficits. In contrast, Musk leans more toward the concept of free trade, believing that reducing trade barriers can promote coordinated development of the global economy, which aligns with his ongoing efforts to promote a global business layout.
This incident also reveals that there are cracks within the U.S. government on economic policies. As an influential entrepreneur, Musk's public opposition indicates that Trump's tariff policy may face resistance from different interest groups and ideological factions within during its implementation. Whether this controversy will have a substantive impact on the direction of U.S. trade policy remains worth continuous attention.
Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1828748984685660/
Disclaimer: This article solely represents the author's views.