[Source/Observer Network by熊超然] In response to the unreasonable initiation and escalation of the tariff trade war by the United States, China once again took a tough countermeasure on April 11, announcing that it would raise tariffs on American goods to 125%. A sentence in the relevant tariff announcement caught people's attention - given that at the current tariff levels, American goods imported into China have no market acceptance possibility, if the US continues to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US, China will not respond.
On the same day, The New York Times noticed that after China raised its tariffs on American goods, Tesla had stopped supplying two models imported from the United States - Model X and Model S - in the Chinese market. According to Tesla's China website, currently there is no "order" option for new cars for Model X and Model S, only an "learn more" button displayed on the corresponding model pages, while Model 3 and Model Y produced by the Chinese factory showed no abnormalities.
The report pointed out that Tesla did not explain why customers cannot order these two models, but this change coincided with China's continuous countermeasures against Trump's upgraded "reciprocal tariffs". Bloomberg believed that although losing sales of Model X and Model S would not deal a significant blow to Tesla in China, the world's largest automotive market, it was still a setback for the company's already precarious market position in China.
Tesla's official website shows that only Model 3 and Model Y have "order" options Tesla China Official Website
Observing Network found from Tesla's China website that currently, Model S is only available with stock choices in some regions, while Model X has run out of stock in multiple regions. For related changes in sales, Tesla did not respond to media requests for comments.
It is worth noting that Tesla's Model S and Model X sold in the Chinese market are both produced at Tesla's Fremont Factory in California, USA, and Tesla has not yet started local production of these two models in China. Tesla's Shanghai Gigafactory mainly produces Model 3 and Model Y, supplying the Chinese and other international markets.
The New York Times cited data from the China Automotive Technology Research Center indicating that Model X and Model S accounted for only a small portion of Tesla's sales in China, with total sales last year being less than 2,000 units, while Model 3 and Model Y sales were approximately 660,000 units.
However, Bloomberg believed that although losing sales of Model X and Model S would not deal a significant blow to Tesla in China, the world's largest automotive market, it was still a setback for the company's already precarious market position in China.
The New York Times quoted data from the China Passenger Car Association (CPCA), pointing out that in March, Tesla's electric vehicle sales in China fell by 11.5% year-on-year. Facing strong competition from Chinese rivals for its market share, Tesla's defensive battle was extremely difficult. In the same month, its main competitor BYD's sales increased by 23%.
A Tesla Model S electric vehicle on display at the 2024 Paris Motor Show Reuters
Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and an important advisor to Trump, although he did not publicly criticize the President's tariff policies, he had made veiled remarks advocating the cancellation of all tariffs. Meanwhile, Musk publicly clashed with Peter Navarro (Peter Navarro), one of the designers of Trump's trade policies.
On April 5 local time, Musk posted on the social platform "X", stating that it was bad for Navarro to have a Ph.D. in economics from Harvard University, implying that it would lead to people lacking wisdom due to overconfidence, and criticized Navarro for "doing nothing." On April 7, Navarro responded during an interview, saying that Musk was just a car assembler and his opposition to tariff policies was merely to protect his own interests. Since then, the verbal spat between the two continued.
On April 11, China decided to adjust its tariff measures on imports from the United States starting from April 12, raising the tariff rate on American goods from 84% to 125%. The relevant announcement pointed out that given the current tariff levels, American goods imported into China have no market acceptance possibility. If the US continues to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US, China will not respond.
On the same day, a spokesperson for China's Ministry of Commerce answered reporters' questions regarding China's countermeasures against the US's further increase in tariffs. The spokesperson pointed out that on April 10 Eastern Time, the US issued an executive order, further increasing the "reciprocal tariffs" imposed on Chinese products. We noticed that the tax rate announced by the US for Chinese products was 41%, which was 20 percentage points higher than the previously claimed tariff rate. China firmly opposed and strongly condemned the US's arbitrary unilateral tariff measures and had taken resolute countermeasures to safeguard its own rights and interests.
The US's repeated imposition of disproportionately high tariffs on China has become a numbers game, which has lost practical significance economically. It only exposes the US's tactics of weaponizing tariff tools, bullying, and coercion, and becomes a laughingstock. If the US continues its tariff number games, China will ignore them. However, if the US insists on substantially harming China's rights and interests, China will firmly retaliate and see it through to the end.
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