2025.02.23

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Author: Qian Xiaoyan, First Financial Daily

After years of back-and-forth, just as Tesla was preparing to enter India, an unexpected opponent emerged.

U.S. President Trump and the head of the "Department of Government Efficiency," Tesla CEO Elon Musk, recently participated in a joint interview with American media. During the interview, the two praised each other, but when the topic turned to India's tariffs, Trump immediately changed his demeanor, directly targeting Musk, revealing a clear disagreement between the two.

特朗普表示，特斯拉为规避印度的高关税而在当地建厂对美国“不公平”，全世界国家都在通过关税“占美国便宜”，特斯拉“不可能在印度卖出汽车”。在场的马斯克也未多作解释，只是表示赞同特朗普关于“印度关税过高”的观点，并强调“关税应确保公平竞争环境”。

Shortly before making these remarks, Trump had just hosted visiting Indian Prime Minister Modi at the White House. One of the key reasons for Modi's hurried visit to the United States was to seek to ease trade and economic relations between India and the U.S.

Lin Minwang, a researcher and deputy director of the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University, told the First Financial reporter that past experiences have shown that diplomatic persuasion has limited effect on Trump. Even if there is prior communication, Trump will initiate a "trade war" when he deems it necessary, without any reservations.

Tesla enters India

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Tesla plans to open its first stores in New Delhi, the capital of India, and Mumbai, the country's largest economic city, officially entering the Indian market. According to sources, the current plan is to start sales in the third quarter of the year. Tesla has already posted job advertisements on LinkedIn on the first of the month, recruiting several customer service and backend support positions locally.

As early as a few years ago, Musk indicated Tesla's intention to enter the Indian market, but India's high tariffs became a major obstacle. According to India's previous tariff rules, cars valued below a certain amount in rupees (approximately equivalent to a certain amount in Chinese yuan) are subject to a 60% import tariff, while imported cars valued above that amount are subject to a 100% or even higher tariff. Tesla's main models are all valued above this threshold.

To promote the development of the local electric vehicle industry, the Indian government has repeatedly invited Tesla to establish a factory in the country. However, Tesla has made the reduction of tariffs a prerequisite for setting up a plant in India, leading to a tug-of-war between the two parties.

In a certain month and year, during Modi's visit to the United States, he specifically met with Musk. Musk revealed that Modi is pushing for Tesla to make significant investments in India, stating that this is also "something Tesla intends to do," but both sides need to find the right timing.

Finally, on [specific date], the Indian government introduced preferential policies, indicating that from this date onwards, electric vehicle manufacturers who invest at least [specific amount] billion rupees (approximately [specific amount] billion yuan) and commence production in India within [specific number] years will be provided with tariff concessions.

According to regulations, any imported electric vehicle priced at approximately $10,000 or more will only be subject to a % tariff within the year. However, each automaker committed to investing in India can import a maximum of vehicles at the preferential tariff rate annually, totaling 10,000 electric vehicles per year. Tesla, however, seems dissatisfied with these preferential conditions.

Musk had originally planned to visit India in late April to meet with Modi and announce an investment of billions to tens of billions of dollars to build a factory in India. However, Musk canceled his trip to India at the last minute, citing that Tesla was "extremely busy with business." A week later, Musk made a surprise visit to China, which left India both shocked and displeased.

a contradiction

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虽然遭遇挫折，但印度并未放弃发展电动车产业。同时随着特朗普第二任期的开启，马斯克成为了特朗普身边的“红人”，无论从经济还是政治因素，印度都希望再争取一下马斯克。

Modi visited the United States from [specific dates] to [specific dates], becoming one of the first foreign leaders to be hosted by Trump at the White House. Prior to his visit, Modi directed the reduction of tariffs on high-end cars priced over $[specific amount] from [specific percentage]% to [specific percentage]%, setting the stage for their meeting. On [specific date], Modi met with Musk in Washington. Modi stated that they discussed topics such as space, automobiles, emerging technologies, and innovation.

For Musk and Tesla, entering the Indian market remains a priority. Facing fierce competition from peers, Tesla experienced its first global sales decline in years. Entering the new year, due to Musk's controversial remarks, Tesla's sales in Europe further declined in the month.

Although India is currently the world's third-largest automobile market, the proportion of electric vehicle sales is extremely low, with only about ten thousand units sold annually, and the penetration rate of electric vehicles is less than 1%. This also indicates that electric vehicles have enormous market potential in India, with demand expected to reach one million units by a certain year.

Tesla is not content with the current tariff concessions. Now, Tesla has already started looking for land in India to establish an electric vehicle manufacturing plant, which has triggered the strong backlash from Trump mentioned above.

这也意味着马斯克要带领特斯拉进军印度，除了要“摆平”印度外，更需要在美国国内做出合理解释，为何企业的行为与“美国第一”政策的产生了直接的利益冲突。 WeChat editor | 生产队的驴（坐等下班版）

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马斯克赔特朗普万美元！

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