Tesla joined hundreds of others in the auto industry requesting the US Trade Representative provide extended tariff waivers for specific parts and materials from China.
These parts and materials are used to make or repair cars, and with current supply chain issues are hard to find.
Tesla filed three public comments supporting waivers for tariffs on graphite. Graphite is a main material in the making of the anode component of lithium-ion batteries.
Although other countries have graphite, no one has it at the level that Tesla requires for its battery manufacturing.
Tesla is not the only one writing public comments supporting waivers on graphite. SK Innovation, via its subsidiary, SK Battery America, also pushed for the installation of waivers, reports CNBC.
In addition, other waivers that received comments include electric motors used in car seats, printed circuit boards, axles and even simple raw materials.
This is not the first time Tesla and other automakers requested waivers or talked about import tariffs. In fact, Tesla engaged former President Trump on Twitter on this very issue back in 2018.
For example, an American car going to China pays 25% import duty, but a Chinese car coming to the US only pays 2.5%, a tenfold difference
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 8, 2018
Tesla’s comments were among 2024 entries that the US Trade Representative received via their website. The deadline to comment was on Wednesday. However, there is no timeline for a decision.
