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Tesla’s patron tries to curb tariff escalation towards China: ‘Duties hurt businesses’. But the White House drags its feet

Elon Musk has reportedly tried to convince Donald Trump not to introduce new tariffs against China, in an attempt to dampen an economic line that risks damaging US and global industrial interests. This was reported by the Washington Post, citing two sources familiar with the private talks between the president and the entrepreneur, according to which the pressure so far has been unsuccessful.

Despite Musk’s efforts, Trump announced yesterday a further tariff increase, with new tariffs of 50% on a long list of Chinese imports. A decision that fuels trade escalation and worries many large companies.

Musk publishes Milton Friedman: ‘Free trade brings benefits’

To underline his position, the Tesla CEO posted a video of economist Milton Friedman on X praising the benefits of international trade cooperation. An explicit stance: Tesla has in China one of its main production hubs and a strategic market, making duties a direct obstacle to its industrial goals.

According to the US newspaper, this is the toughest clash between Trump and Musk, who has also invested almost $290 million in support of the tycoon’s election campaign.

Attacks also on Navarro: ‘A PhD at Harvard is bad’

Musk also publicly attacked Peter Navarro, a White House trade adviser who is believed to be one of the architects of the new tariff package. ‘A PhD from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing,’ Musk wrote on X, criticising the protectionist line’s ideological approach.

Navarro did not respond, but White House spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt reiterated that Trump remains the ultimate decision-maker: ‘The president has assembled a team of talented people with diverse opinions. When he makes a decision, everyone is rowing in the same direction. That is why we have done more in two months than the previous administration did in four years’.

Musk: ‘We need an EU-US free trade zone’

Elon Musk made it clear that his wish is for greater freedom of movement and work between Europe and the US, with the goal of a transatlantic free trade zone. An idea that he also relaunched two days ago during a speech in connection with the League Congress in Italy.

According to one of the sources quoted by the Washington Post, several business leaders moved over the weekend to form an informal group to lobby the Trump administration in the hope of revising the tariff strategy towards a more open and moderate line.

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