Elon Musk Says He Favors No Tariffs On Chinese EVs

(RTTNews) - Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk, while speaking at a technology conference in Paris, said that he doesn't support President Biden's recent announcement of a tariff on imported Chinese-made electric vehicles.

At the Viva Technology conference, Musk said, "Tesla competes quite well in the market in China with no tariffs and no deferential support... I'm in favor of no tariffs and no incentives for electric vehicles, or for oil and gas."

While responding during a question and answer session at the conference, Musk stated, "Neither Tesla nor I asked for these tariffs. In fact, I was surprised when they were announced."

Earlier this month, the Biden administration had announced tariff on Chinese EVs as well as EV batteries and other parts in an effort to stop the flooding of cheap Chinese EVs to the domestic market. The reports also said the Government was preparing to raise tariffs on clean-energy goods from China in the following days.

Beijing is giving significant subsidies to green energy companies, helping them overproduce EVs and clean energy products like solar panels for lower price.

Earlier this year, Musk had remarked that in the absence of trade restrictions, Chinese EV companies will crush competitors elsewhere.

Tesla recently has reported weak production and deliveries in its first quarter.

The luxury electric car maker, which is struggling with slower demand and severe competition, in April had reduced prices across its various models in China, after similar cuts in the United States. The company also slashed the price of its Full Self-Driving or FSD driver assistant software.

In late March, Bloomberg reported that Tesla has cut down its electric vehicle production at its Giga Shanghai factory in China due to sluggish growth in the sales of new-energy vehicles, tough competition and price war. Tesla had also limited manufacturing of EV parts.

However, Tesla's stock gained significantly in April after Musk, during a trip to Beijing, signed a deal to introduce its FSD software service in China, with the support of local tech giant Baidu's mapping and navigation services.