Billionaire Elon Musk personally approached the United States (U.S.) President Donald Trump over the past weekend, requesting the withdrawal of tariff measures, according to media reports.
Trump announced a basic tariff of 10 percent on all imports into the U.S., with even higher “reciprocal” tariffs for trade partners such as China and the European Union (EU).
Musk’s attempts, confirmed by two sources, have so far borne no fruit. On Monday, Trump threatened additional tariffs of 50 percent on Chinese goods, on top of the already imposed 34 percent “reciprocal” tariffs last week.
Musk shared on platform X a video of economist Milton Friedman highlighting the benefits of international trade, explaining how the materials for an ordinary pencil come from all over the world.
The current dispute over tariffs represents the biggest public disagreement between Musk and Trump. On Saturday, Musk criticized White House trade adviser Peter Navarro, a key architect of the tariff measures.
“A Harvard PhD in economics is a bad, not a good thing,” he wrote on X.
In a conversation with Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, the owner of the X platform expressed hope for a “tariff-free system” between the U.S. and Europe that would “effectively create a free trade zone.”
As CEO of Tesla, Musk believes that tariffs harm the company’s goals, given its reliance on production and sales in the U.S. and China. His opposition to tariffs dates back to Trump’s first term when Tesla sued the government over tariffs on Chinese imports.
The richest person in the world also announced his withdrawal from a position in the Trump administration, where since January he had been leading the so-called “Department of Government Efficiency” focusing on cost reduction.
