Elon Musk expects US-Europe tariffs to be at zero
Seeing sales plummet, billionaire Elon Musk expects tariffs between the US and Europe to go to zero.
According to CNN, Elon Musk, the world's richest man and the face of the Trump administration's Department of Government Efficiency, said he hopes for "zero tariffs" between Europe and the United States.
“Ultimately, I hope that both Europe and the United States will agree to move towards zero tariffs. This is in fact the way to create a free trade area between Europe and North America,” Musk said in a video interview with Matteo Salvini, Italy’s deputy prime minister and leader of the far-right League party, at a League congress in Florence on April 5.
Italy, which has a trade surplus with the United States of about 39 billion euros ($42.74 billion) by 2024, aims to "de-escalate" with the United States on tariffs, Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said.
Billionaire Elon Musk's comments came after President Donald Trump announced a 20% tariff on goods from the European Union on April 2.
In an exchange on the social media platform X, Mr. Musk criticized Peter Navarro - a senior trade and manufacturing adviser to the Trump administration, who supports tariffs.
"A PhD in economics from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing," Musk said sarcastically about Navarro's academic background. The Tesla CEO also added about Navarro: "He hasn't built anything."
Meanwhile, Elon Musk has seen Tesla sales plummet in recent months, amid his controversial cost-cutting role with DOGE.
According to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, sales fell 49% in Europe alone in the first two months of the first quarter of 2025.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that Europe has a strong plan to respond to Trump's tariffs. "Europe is not the one who initiated this confrontation," Ursula von der Leyen said on April 3. "We do not necessarily want to retaliate, but if necessary, we have a strong retaliation plan and we will use it."
