“Neither Tesla nor I asked for these tariffs," Tesla chief executive Elon Musk told Viva Technology of the US move against Chinese EVs. Photograph: GettyElon Musk has criticised US government tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, describing the levies as “not good” and a distortion of the car market.
“Neither Tesla nor I asked for these tariffs, in fact, I was surprised when they were announced. Things that inhibit freedom of exchange or distort the market are not good,” Mr Musk said at Viva Technology via video link. Speaking at the Viva conference, Mr Musk rowed back on his January comments. He said Tesla competed “quite well” in the key Chinese market without tariffs. This week, a Chinese trade group said Beijing was considering retaliatory tariffs, albeit on petrol-powered cars.
Marina Alekseenkova, a director at Hypothesis Research, said the US tariffs supported domestic producers but could “slow down the overall growth trend of the EV market”.