Elon Musk’s electric manufacturer, Tesla, warned it and other American exporters could be injured by countries rich in the commercial prices of Donald Trump.
Musk is a close ally of the American president and strives to reduce the size of the federal government.
But in an unsigned letter addressed to an American trade representative, Tesla said that even if he “supports” fair trade, he feared that American exporters were “exposed to disproportionate impacts when other countries react to American commercial actions”.
The letter was dated the same day that Trump organized an event in the White House where he promised to buy a Tesla in a demonstration of support for Mr. Musk.
Tesla’s share price has dropped 40% since the start of the year. Mr. Musk is the leader of the automaker of the automaker and although some have asserted his alignment with the Trump administration Nui to his brand, market analysts say that the fall on the part concerns more concerns about Tesla to achieve production objectives and a reduction in sales in the past year.
In the letter, Tesla said that she made changes to her supply chains to find as many local suppliers for her cars and batteries, he was therefore less dependent on foreign markets.
“Nevertheless”, he warned, “even with an aggressive location of the supply chain, certain parts and components are difficult or impossible to stock up in the United States.”
The American president imposed an additional 20% rate on all imports from China, which prompted Beijing to respond with alleged reprisals, including cars. China is the second largest Tesla market after the United States.
“For example, previous commercial actions in the United States have led to immediate reactions from targeted countries, including increased prices on electric vehicles imported into these countries,” said the letter.
The EU and Canada both threatened to reprisals for prices on prices on steel and aluminum imports in the United States, which came into force earlier this week.
The demonstrators have targeted the Tesla exhibition halls in recent weeks to protest against Mr. Musk’s cost reduction role in Trump’s administration, where he is the so-called Ministry of Government Effectiveness (DOGE).
Earlier this week, Trump organized an event in the White House where he said that people protesting against Tesla should be labeled domestic terrorists, while sitting in the driver’s headquarters of a brand new Red Tesla that he said he had planned to buy.
Trump said the demonstrators “harm a large American business”, and anyone using violence against the electric car manufacturer “would go through hell”.
