American businessman and head of the US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) Elon Musk held secret negotiations with President Donald Trump regarding tariffs against other countries. When the negotiations did not yield results, Musk began to publicly criticize the new tariffs and advocate for free trade between the United States and Europe.
The Washington Post writes about this, citing its sources.
Musk previously criticized Trump's trade adviser Peter Navarro, who helped prepare the new tariff plans.
"A PhD in economics from Harvard is bad, not good," Musk said of him.
In response, Navarro replied that Musk understands car sales, but does not understand tariffs. Later it turned out that Navarro referred to an economist he himself made up in his book to justify the expediency of tariffs against a number of countries.
Elon Musk has directly approached Trump about tariff policy, but the negotiations have failed. Moreover, Trump plans to impose even higher tariffs on goods from China.
While Musk has publicly criticized the new tariffs and advocated for a "free trade zone" between Europe and the United States.
"Ultimately, I hope everyone will agree. Both Europe and the United States should, in my opinion, strive for a situation with zero tariffs," Musk said.
Recall, US President Donald Trump threatened China with additional tariffs of 50% in response to the introduction of a 34% tariff by the PRC.
Previously supportive of Donald Trump, American billionaire and founder of the Pershing Square hedge fund Bill Ackman called on Trump to take a timeout and review the tariff system introduced by the US President, which will come into effect on April 9.
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