Trump slams Elon Musk’s India plans, calls Tesla factory ‘unfair’—Musk gives surprise response

U.S. president Donald Trump in an interview with Sean Hannity said Elon Musk's plans to bring Tesla to India would be 'unfair' to the United States.

“If he (Musk) built the factory in India, that’s okay, but that’s unfair to us.  It’s very unfair,” Trump said on 'The Sean Hannity Show'.

“Every country in the world takes advantage of us, and they do it with tariffs... It’s impossible for him (Musk) to sell a car, practically, in, as an example, India,” he said.

Musk, who was also on the show, agreed with Trump and said that India imposes 100% import duty on cars.

This comes days after Trump, during a joint press conference with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, assailed India for charging the highest tariffs anywhere in the world. "I don’t blame them. It’s a different way of doing business. It’s very hard to sell in India because they have trade barriers and very strong tariffs. We are right now a reciprocal nation. Whatever India charges, we are going to charge them," Trump said, adding that’s fair for the people of the United States and India.

Reiterating his reciprocal tariffs on India, Trump, “Here’s what we’re going to do: reciprocal… Whatever you charge, I’m going to charge.”

During his joint press briefing with PM Modi, Trump said the two countries will strengthen economic ties and bring “greater fairness and reciprocity” to the trading relationship. “India imposes a 30% to 40% to 60% to even 70% tariffs on so many goods and in some cases far more than that," he said.

Meanwhile, Tesla has begun hiring for at least 14 positions in India, including for a store manager role which would be based in Mumbai and Delhi. The world’s largest automaker in terms of market cap is also hiring a PCB design engineer for electronic systems in Pune.

In Mumbai, Tesla is hiring for roles such as consumer engagement manager, order operations specialist, customer support specialist, service manager, sales adviser, business operations analyst, service technician, and parts adviser among others.

Tesla is yet to apply for the government’s Scheme to Promote Manufacturing of Electric Passenger Cars in India (SPMEPCI) which slashes import duty to 15% from 100% for EVs with cost, insurance and freight value of $35,000 or more. Critics of the scheme had argued that it was tailor-made for Tesla, which has yet to commit any investment under the scheme.

Under the new policy, automakers are required to invest at least ₹4,150 crore or $500 million to set up a new EV manufacturing facility in India within three years. A localisation of 25% is to be achieved by the third year and 50% by the fifth year. The duty foregone on the total number of EVs allowed for import would be limited to the investment made or ₹6,484 crore (equal to incentive under the PLI scheme). A maximum of 40,000 EVs at the rate of not more than 8,000 per year would be permissible if the investment is $800 million or more.