Tesla urges tariff exemption for Chinese-made computer car ‘brain’
- Company is one of several carmakers that have asked the US government for relief from costly tariffs imposed during the trade war with China
Tesla has asked the Donald Trump administration to exempt the Chinese-made computer “brain” of its new Model 3 car from 25 per cent tariffs imposed in August, saying they threaten the electric carmaker’s bottom line.
“Increased tariffs on this particular part cause economic harm to Tesla, through the increase of costs and impact to profitability,” the company said in a previously unreported request for tariff relief from the government.
Led by tech billionaire Elon Musk, Tesla is among a host of companies, including top US carmaker General Motors, to warn of growing costs related to the tariff war between the world’s two largest economies.
The Chinese-made computer, used by Tesla in the car assembled in Fremont, California, was among US$16 billion in imports that were hit with 25 per cent tariffs by the United States Trade Representative’s Office in 2018.
In a redacted request posted on a government website by the USTR on December 17, Tesla did not identify the supplier of the computer. But it said it had been unable to find another manufacturer “with the required specifications, at the volume requested and under the timelines necessary for Tesla’s continued growth”.