Trump’s tariffs on Chinese parts for Cybercab, Semi disrupt Tesla’s US production plans

SHANGHAI: Tesla’s plans to ship components from China for Cybercab and Semi electric trucks in the United States were suspended after President Donald Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods amid a trade war, said a person with direct knowledge.

The move could disrupt Tesla’s plan to start mass production of the much-anticipated models, which its CEO Elon Musk has been touting to investors as major innovations providing growth momentum of the US automaker.

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Tesla was ready to absorb the additional costs when Trump imposed the 34 per cent tariff on Chinese goods but could not do so when the tariff went beyond that, leaving shipping plans suspended, said the person, who declined to be named as the matter is private.

Trump raised additional tariffs to 84 per cent on April 9 and has since increased that to 125 per cent, bringing the total tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US to 145 per cent.

The company was scheduled to start receiving component shipments in upcoming months with the goal of starting trial production of the two models in October and mass production in 2026, the person said, with Cybercab to be produced in Texas and Semi in Nevada.

It was not clear how long the suspension will last.

Tesla has for the past two years been increasing the proportion of parts sourced from North America for its US factories in view of potential US tariffs on China, the source and a second person said.

Speaking on Monday at the White House, Trump said he was considering a modification to the 25 per cent tariffs imposed on foreign auto and auto parts imports from Mexico, Canada and other places. Those tariffs could raise the costs of a car by thousands of dollars, and Trump said car companies “need a little bit of time because they’re going to make ’em here.”

Tesla didn’t respond to requests for comment.

Tesla has been seeking approvals from state governments as it plans to roll out a robotaxi service with a fleet of Cybercabs. It unveiled in October a robotaxi concept that had no steering wheel or control pedals and promised to start building the two-door model by 2026 at a price of less than $30,000.

Honda is weighing whether to move some car production from Mexico and Canada to the United States,

Tesla also plans to ramp up production of the Semi electric trucks in 2026 and accelerate deliveries of long-overdue orders to customers including Pepsi.

The impact on the key business plans for Tesla reflected how Trump’s tariffs, which were meant to boost US local manufacturing, has hurt his political ally Musk, who has repeatedly said on his social media posts on X he supported free trade and objected tariffs.

The White House says Musk is tasked with overseeing a US bureaucracy overhaul that has eliminated the jobs of thousands of government employees.

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Musk, who posted a video illustrating how it requires a global supply chain to make a pencil, had made personal appeal to Trump to reverse sweeping new tariffs worldwide, Washington Post reported last week.

Tesla has also stopped taking new orders for Model S and Model X as China imposed a retaliatory 125 per cent tariff on US goods.

The US accounted for about 15 to 20 per cent by value of exports of Chinese auto components in recent years, S&P said in a report in February.