Even Elon Musk’s Tesla, the president’s first Buddy, is worried about the duties of Donald Trump, which could aggravate an already negative trend for the American electric car house. The fear is that of retaliation from foreign markets. It may seem like a paradox, given that Musk is the first supporter of ‘Tariff Man’ and his commercial policies. But in a letter to the representative for American trade Jamieson Greer, Tesla, while claiming to “support” fair trade, warned that US exporters are “exposed to disproportionate impacts when other countries respond to the commercial actions of the United States”. “For example – read in the letter – the past commercial actions of the United States have caused immediate reactions from the countries targeted by electric vehicles imported to those countries ». Tesla is also “vulnerable to potential changes of retaliation by other countries following the intensification of the commercial clash” triggered by the US duties, wrote the company based in Austin, Texas.
The letter is not signed (“Nobody wants to be fired for sending it”, he confided an internal source) and is in response to the request for public comments on potential risks for American companies to be affected following the rates. The car manufacturer claims that the duties could increase the production costs of vehicles in the USA and make them less competitive when they are exported abroad. Furthermore, the administration urges to avoid making even more expensive to import minerals that are scarce in the United States, such as lithium and cobalt. Tesla is going through a negative period, from which the controversial showroom promoted by Trump to the White House can hardly save it in total contempt for any rule on conflicts of interest. Since the beginning of the year, the title has lost more than 40% and the wait for the new Model Y, which has just debuted, is not enough to explain Tesla’s difficulties, especially in Europe, where it mounts the boycott for the growing hostility towards Musk.
In February, sales in Germany decreased by 76%, in France by 45%, 42%in Sweden. Even in China, where there is a strong internal competition on electricity, the situation is not the best: in February sales recorded a 49% collapse. Help comes from Israel, who asked Tesla to present an offer to provide electric cars to government officials. The fears of Tesla for the duties are also shared by importers, distributors, retailers and owners of American bar, who fear to suffer a serious blow if Trump, as he threatened, will impose 200% duties on champagne, wines and European alcohol. For many of them, as they have confided to Reuters, the risk is to close or mass layoffs. “A 200% rate on imported wine … would destroy US companies,” said Ben Aneff, president of the US Wine Trade Alliance. “The duties would do significantly greater economic damage here in the United States than Europe,” he warned.