Elon Musk has done a U-turn in his stance regarding US tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, now saying they are a bad idea.
Speaking at a tech conference Paris, the Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) chief executive said he wasn’t in favour of measures “that distorted the market”.
In January, the billionaire had warned that without tariffs Chinese EVs "demolish most other car companies in the world".
This month President Joe Biden put in place a raft of tariffs on Chinese products entering the US with EV duties rising four-fold to more to more than 100%.
"Neither Tesla nor I asked for these tariffs, in fact I was surprised when they were announced. Things that inhibit freedom of exchange or distort the market are not good," Musk said at the Viva conference.
Alongside the US, China is one of Tesla’s most important markets.