There is a specific reason why President Donald Trump’s new automotive tariff exemption only benefits Elon Musk’s Tesla.
The president has announced the new move after a series of tariffs were placed on imports from countries around the world last month (April).
The White House made it clear that Trump had big plans for tariffs in the automotive industry, with the administration announcing a 25% tariff on imports of ‘automobiles and certain automobile parts’ back in late March.
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However, the White House has shared that there is a specific way for manufacturers to make themselves exempt from these latest tariffs and it appears to benefit Tesla in particular.
In a fact sheet released on Tuesday (April 29), the White House revealed the administration’s plan to boost car production within the US.
In the fact sheet, it read: “President Donald J. Trump signed a proclamation to protect national security by incentivizing domestic automobile production and reducing American reliance on imports of foreign automobiles and their parts.”
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The proclamation modifies the tariff action on automobiles and automobile parts by encouraging manufacturers to assemble their automobiles in the US, thereby reducing US reliance on foreign imports of automobiles and automobile parts.
If a car company produces a vehicle with 85% or more domestic content, it will be fully exempt from new tariffs on automobiles.
Only one company fits the bill for this... you guessed it, Tesla.
Three Tesla vehicles meet this very specific request - the Tesla Model Y and Tesla Model Y Long range as well as the Model 3 Performance, according to Fuel ARC.
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Ford’s Mustang GT AT, GT 5.0L and GT Coupe Premium aren't far behind with 80% domestic content, with Honda’s Passport AWD not far off either at 76.5%.
Some Tesla models don’t quite make the cut, with the Cybertruck having 82.5% domestic content, and the Model S and Model X only having 80%.
Some people on social media have criticized the move and accused it of being blatant favoritism towards Elon Musk and Tesla.
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Writing on a thread about the exemption, one Reddit user commented: “‘Oh c’mon, there’s literally a multi-month difference between when Musk gave Trump $290 million and when the government started doing things that explicitly benefit him. There’s no way you can legitimately say that the two are related.’ - Most of my relatives, probably.”
And another added: “What an amazing coincidence! This is.”
LADbible Group has reached out to Tesla for comment.