Anonymous letter: warning of negative consequences of Donald Trump's tariffs
In an unsigned letter, Tesla has warned the US government of the consequences of imposing more and more new tariffs. Exporters would suffer in particular.
(Image: BoJack/Shutterstock.com)
Elon Musk's electric car company Tesla has now joined an unexpected party in the US debate over President Donald Trump's tariff policy, warning that production in the US could become more expensive. In an unsigned letter to the US government's trade representative, Tesla assures that it supports "free trade", but points out that exporting companies are disproportionately affected when other countries react to the US government's decisions on foreign trade. In the past, for example, tariffs on electric cars such as Tesla's have been increased immediately in such cases.
Letter writer with fear of dismissal
An anonymous source told the Financial Times that the letter was a polite way of saying that Tesla was being "ripped off" by the reciprocal imposition of tariffs: "It's not signed because no one at the company wants to be fired for sending it." The text also warns that decisions in US trade policy could lead to restrictions on the import of goods or raw materials that are essential for production in the US. Consequences for supply chains should therefore be taken into account in trade policy. Tariffs imposed by Trump have triggered a backlash from Canada and the EU, among others.
Tesla's warning is unexpected because CEO Elon Musk supported Donald Trump's election campaign with a lot of money and became one of the most influential people in Washington D.C. after he took office. Since then, Musk has not only defended Trump's decisions on his short message service X, for which he is also responsible for a drastic restructuring of US authorities. With rapid cuts in funding and mass redundancies, he has attracted a lot of criticism, and the consequences for the functioning of the US state apparatus are not yet foreseeable.
However, Musk's actions have already had massive consequences for Tesla, with the share price collapsing completely on the stock market. Also because Musk has turned the previous core target group for Tesla vehicles against him, and not just in the USA, the company is selling dramatically less in some cases. In February, for example, Tesla sales in Germany fell by 76 percent compared to the previous year. In this country, the billionaire previously caused outrage with a Hitler salute and AfD election advertising. He has not yet commented on criticism of his company's US trade policy.
(mho)