Elon Musk Speaks Out: Criticize Tariff Advocates, Call for Europe and America to Achieve Zero Tariffs!
Musk suddenly opposes trade barriers and calls for the establishment of a zero tariff free trade zone between the United States and Europe, which has sharply diverged from the Trump administration's tariff policies.
After Trump announced a comprehensive new tariff policy that caused the stock market to plummet for two days, Musk suddenly broke his silence on trade policy, publicly criticized the Trump administration's chief trade advisor Navarro, and called for the establishment of a freer trade environment.
Just Tesla stock alone, Musk lost nearly $18 billion. As this close ally of Trump begins to openly question the White House's trade strategy, investors need to be wary of the internal divisions and policy uncertainties that the US "economic restructuring" plan may face.
The Public Conflict between Musk and Navarro
On Friday morning, Musk responded sharply to a user's defense of Navarro on his social media platform X. The user claimed that Navarro, as a person with a Harvard economics PhD, has a say in tariff issues.
Musk clearly expressed a different opinion in the early hours of Saturday morning: "Having a PhD in economics from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing," he wrote, implying that such a background would make people "more self inflated than intelligent.
A reader quoted Thomas Sowell's famous quote: In every disaster in American history, there is always a person from Harvard. Musk immediately replied 'yes', expressing agreement.
When another user further defended Navarro, Musk responded more bluntly, "He hasn't accomplished anything.
Amazing turn: Musk calls for zero tariffs in the US and Europe
More notably, according to Bloomberg, Musk subsequently attended an Italian political event via video on Saturday, where he publicly called for the elimination of trade barriers.
In my opinion, Europe and the United States should ideally shift towards zero tariffs and effectively establish a free trade zone between Europe and North America, "Musk said at the event.
This stance stands in stark contrast to the recently announced tariff policies by the Trump administration, highlighting the clear differences on trade issues among Musk, who was once seen as a Trump ally.
White House Reaction and Economic Team Disagreement
The White House has not yet responded to Musk's remarks. It is worth noting that in addition to Navarro, there are other senior officials in the Trump administration's economic team who hold a PhD in economics from Harvard, including Stephen Miran, Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors.
Recently, Navarro has frequently appeared on television programs defending Trump's tariff plan and claiming that it will bring in approximately $600 billion in new revenue annually. Trump called these tariff measures an "economic revolution" and stated that large businesses will ultimately benefit from the upcoming tax cuts.
Musk's relationship with Trump administration may cool down
Trump said on Thursday that Musk may step down from government work in the coming months. As the head of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), Musk recently stated that most of his work on reducing the $1 trillion deficit may soon be completed.
With Musk's sudden public intervention in trade policy, the United States' efforts to reshape the global economic order may face more uncertainty, and investors should closely monitor the potential impact of this divergence on market and economic policy trends.
Source: Observations from Wall Street