Elon Musk’s electric car company, Tesla, warned this week that it could be targeted by retaliatory tariffs that could harm its operations amid Donald Trump’s trade war, according to CNN.
In a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, representatives for Tesla encouraged Greer to “consider the downstream impacts of certain proposed actions taken to address unfair trade practices.”
“While Tesla recognizes and supports the importance of fair trade, the assessment undertaken by USTR of potential actions to rectify unfair trade should also take into account exports from the United States,” the letter said
They warned that past US tariffs “have resulted in immediate reactions by the targeted countries, including increased tariffs on EVs imported into those countries.”
Trump has imposed 25% tariffs on steel and aluminium, raw materials that the auto industry consumes in vast quantities, and it could increase as Trump has promised to respond as other countries retaliatory tariffs.
Tesla warned that even with localization of the supply chain, “certain parts and components are difficult or impossible to source within the United States.”
It is not clear who wrote the letter because it is unsigned.
Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk is a key figure in the Trump administration, acting as an adviser to the president and the de facto head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), a task force responsible for shrinking the federal workforce.
On Tuesday, Trump posed in front of a fleet of Teslas at the White House, saying he would purchase one full price as a show of support as Tesla share price tank.
