Elon Musk has recently expressed his opposition to tariffs on Chinese electric cars in the US

Elon Musk opposes the US tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles imposed by President Biden, contradicting his previous stance advocating for trade barriers against Chinese automakers.

Recently, the U.  S.  government has decided to apply new tariffs to the electric cars imported from China, and Elon Musk, the head of Tesla, has spoken against these actions. His comments occurred within a week of President Joe Biden raising tariffs to 100% on Chinese-made EVs shipped to America.

“Neither Tesla nor I asked for these tariffs,” he said in a video link to a technology conference in Paris on Thursday. “I remember when they were announced, I was quite surprised. That which interferes with exchange freedom or distorts the market is not good.

This is contrary to a statement made by Musk in January regarding the Chinese auto manufacturers, he said that they would ‘tear through’ their counterparts if only there were no trade barriers. During that time, he favored protectionism, particularly in the form of tariffs.

The head of Tesla also reaffirmed his current position on free trade and said, “Tesla does compete quite well in the market in China with no tariffs and no deferential support.  I am against tariffs.

Biden set the high 100% tariffs on Chinese EVs last week to protect American workers and to counter what his administration views as unfair Chinese practices in the economy. China has strongly criticized the action and vowed to reciprocate similarly.

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Other commodities have also experienced increasing tensions, this week China started an anti-dumping investigation on the US and other countries’ plastic products. The EU is also still debating whether or not to impose tariffs on Chinese EVs by early July.