Gerrard Kaonga
Elon Musk’s car company Tesla is set to benefit massively compared to other car companies following Trump’s latest tariff move.
Since April 2, Donald Trump has been telling the world how his ‘liberation day’ and economic plans will ultimately be beneficial for Americans.
However ahead of it, the White House made it clear that the Trump administration had big plans for tariffs that would impact the automotive industry.
Back in late March, the administration announced 25 percent tariff on imports of 'automobiles and certain automobile parts'.
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And in the latest move, the White House has revealed that there is a way for car manufacturers to be exempt from the tariffs, and this just so happens to benefit Elon Musk’s car company Tesla.
In a fact sheet, released April 29, their plan to hopefully increase car production in the US is explained.
The fact sheet reads: “President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation to protect national security by incentivizing domestic automobile production and reducing American reliance on imports of foreign automobiles and their parts."
The proclamation modifies the tariff action on automobiles and automobile parts by encouraging manufacturers to assemble their automobiles in the US, thereby reducing American reliance on foreign imports of automobiles and automobile parts.
If a car company produces a vehicle with 85 percent or more domestic content will be fully exempt from new tariffs on automobiles.
Only one company fits the bill for this... you guessed it, Tesla.
Three Tesla vehicles meet this very specific request of 85 percent or more domestic content and that is the Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model Y Long range as well as the Model 3 Performance, according to Fuel ARC.
Ford's Mustang GT AT, GT 5.0L and GT Coupe Premium aren't far behind with 80 percent domestic content, with Honda's Passport AWD not far off either at 76.5 percent.
Some Tesla models do not make the cut, with the Cybertruck having 82.5 percent domestic content, and the Model S and Model X only having 80 percent.
Some people on social media have criticized the move and accused it of being blatant favoritism towards Elon Musk and Tesla.
Writing on a thread about the exemption, one Reddit user commented: “'Oh c'mon, there's literally a multi-month difference between when Musk gave Trump $290 million and when the government started doing things that explicitly benefit him. There's no way you can legitimately say that the two are related.’ - Most of my relatives, probably.”
Another said: “What an amazing coincidence! This is.”
With a third adding: “I'll be in the market for a car soon, I'll give you 1 guess which company won't be on my list.”
With another user commenting: “I’m in San Francisco this week for the first time since early last November. Back then almost every 3rd car was a Tesla and now I barely see any.”
UNILAD has contacted Tesla for comment.