"Tariff faction" Navarro strikes back at Musk: He "is just protecting his own interests"

After the Trump administration fully launched the "largest tariff policy in a century," Elon Musk suddenly opposed trade barriers, calling for the establishment of a zero-tariff free trade zone between the U.S. and Europe, sharply diverging from the Trump administration's tariff policy. In response, Trump's chief trade advisor, Peter Navarro, expressed strong rebuttal to Musk. On the 7th, he pointed out bluntly on Fox News: "Elon is doing great in his DOGE position, but we understand what's happening here. Elon sells cars, he's just protecting his own interests." Navarro emphasized that although Tesla cars are produced in Texas, "many of their components come from regions like Mexico and Japan," making the company particularly susceptible to the government's new tariff system. Trump's tariffs shrink wealth, Musk publicly retaliates After Trump announced the tariff plan last week, Musk lost about $18 billion in wealth amid the sharp decline in U.S. stocks. On April 6, Musk suddenly broke his silence on trade policy, publicly criticizing Navarro, stating, "Having a PhD in economics from Harvard (referring to Navarro) is a bad thing, not a good thing," he wrote on X, implying that such a background could lead to "more self-inflation than wisdom." More notably, according to Bloomberg, Musk subsequently attended a political event in Italy via video on Saturday, where he publicly called for the elimination of trade barriers. " In my view, Europe and the U.S. should ideally move towards a zero-tariff state, effectively establishing a free trade zone between Europe and North America," Musk stated at the event. This stance sharply contrasts with the tariff policy recently announced by the Trump administration, showing a clear divergence from Musk, who was once seen as an ally of Trump on trade issues. Musk had previously acknowledged on the X platform: "It should be clear that tariffs will affect the prices of components from other countries in Tesla cars. The cost impact is not trivial." In another post, he wrote: " It's important to note that Tesla is not unscathed here. The impact of tariffs on Tesla is still significant." Mark Williams, a finance professor at Boston University's Questrom School of Business, previously told Newsweek: "If Trump's tariff war triggers a full-blown recession, demand for any car, whether Tesla or Ford, will decline. The tariff war is a high-risk gamble, betting that our largest trading partners will yield and accept trade conditions that benefit the U.S. but harm them."