Donald Trump says it would be ‘unfair’ to US if Elon Musk builds Tesla factory in India

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said that it would be “unfair” to his country if Elon Musk’s automotive company Tesla were to build a factory in India to bypass the country’s tariffs.

In an interview with Fox News, Trump claimed that every other country in the world takes advantage of the United States through tariffs.

“Now, if he [Musk] built the factory in India, that’s okay, but that’s unfair to us,” Trump said. “It’s very unfair.”

The US president made the comments a week after he ordered a comprehensive plan to be developed to introduce “reciprocal tariffs” on foreign goods.

Trump had similar comments on February 14 during a press conference alongside India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the White House. He claimed that India had been strong on tariffs, and that the “reciprocal measures” he was introducing were fair.

Musk, the chief executive officer of Tesla, has long questioned India’s policy of having import tariffs of around 100% on electric vehicles, which is aimed at protecting local automobile manufacturers. The billionaire businessman is also a senior advisor to Trump.

In March, the Indian government introduced a new electric vehicle policy that reduces import taxes to 15% if a carmaker invests at least Rs 4,150 crore. The manufacturer will also have to achieve 50% domestic value…

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