Where do Elon Musk and Donald Trump Stand Over Tariffs? All You Need to Know

Tesla CEO Elon Musk urged US President Donald Trump to roll back import tariffs. Recently, Musk expressed his displeasure against Trump's latest tariff policies.

Musk and Trump’s close bond cemented the president's second administration, with the SpaceX CEO having taken up a key role in leading the Department of Government Efficiency's (DOGE) cuts to federal spending.

What is the current scenario?

Last week, US President Donald Trump announced a universal tariff on all imports along with a 10% duty on each country. Musk said that the move is economically counterproductive. Notably, Musk’s business largely depends on the international supply chain, which has been affected by tariffs.

“This has certainly been my advice to the president,” Musk said on April 5 during a remote appearance at a political congress hosted by Italy's League Party. “I hope it's agreed that both Europe and the United States should move ideally, in my view, to a zero tariff situation, effectively creating a free trade zone between Europe and North America.”

Musk also slammed fellow Trump adviser Peter Navarro, who helped develop the tariff plan. He called Navarro as someone with an “Ivy League degree” who “had not built anything,” and even questioned his expertise on manufacturing and trade.

Navarro hit back at Musk calling him a “car assembler” who was trying to “defend his interests.”

Trump previously justified the tariff policy on Europe, where Musk wants free trade, saying, “The European Union's been very bad to us; they don't take our cars, like Japan in that sense, they don't take our agricultural products, they don't take anything practically, yet they send millions of cars a year, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, BMWs, they're sending millions and millions of cars into the U.S.”

Trump added, “We have a deficit with the European Union of $350 billion and it's going to disappear fast, and one of the ways that that can disappear easily and quickly is they're going to have to buy our energy from us because they need it.”