Elon Musk Made Unsucessful Appeals To Trump To Reverse New Tariffs As Tesla Likely To Take A Hit: Report

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc. TSLA, reportedly made direct appeals to President Donald Trump over the weekend to reverse sweeping new tariffs.

What Happened: Despite being a key Trump adviser and significant political donor who contributed nearly $290 million to Republicans in last year’s elections, Musk’s intervention has been unsuccessful, reported The Washington Post. Trump threatened Monday to add new 50% tariffs on Chinese imports on top of the 34% taxes announced last week.

The dispute marks the highest-profile disagreement between Trump’s closest advisers. Musk publicly criticized White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on social media, writing, “A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing.”

In an interview with Italian Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, Musk advocated for a “free trade zone” between Europe and the United States, saying, “At the end of the day, I hope it’s agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero-tariff situation.”

Tesla did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.

See Also: Jim Cramer Says Market Rebound Feels ‘Strange’ After Nine Nights Of Losses: ‘Things Aren’t Better’ As Stock Futures Surge Over 1%

Why It Matters: Musk’s brother and Tesla board member Kimbal Musk also criticized Trump’s policies, calling him “the most high tax American President in generations” and warning that tariffs create “a structural, permanent tax on the American consumer.”

Tesla stock closed at $233.29 on Monday, down more than 2.5%, and has lost over 38% of its value this year. Analyst Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities lowered Tesla’s price target from $550 to $315, noting that “Tesla has essentially become a political symbol globally… and that is a very bad thing.”

The tariff policies have sparked broader market turmoil, with BlackRock Inc. CEO Larry Fink warning that economic impacts are “going to freeze more and more consumption.”

Tesla is outperforming rivals Rivian Automotive RIVN, NIO NIO, and Lucid Group LCID in momentum, according to Benzinga Edge Stock Rankings. However, the Musk-led EV maker is showing a negative price trend across short to long-term timeframes. Sign up to learn more.

Read Next:

• ‘Dr. Doom' Roubini Warns Markets ‘Delusional' About Fed Rescue As Trump, Xi Jinping, Jerome Powell Locked In High-Stakes Standoff

Image via Shutterstock

Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.