- Even though CEO Elon Musk is in Trump’s inner circle, Tesla CFO Vaibhav Taneja said Wednesday that the EV maker could be affected by tariffs imposed by Trump.
Just because Elon Musk is Donald Trump’s “first buddy” doesn’t mean his EV company won’t be hurt by the president’s policies, according to Tesla’s CFO.
Chief financial officer Vaibhav Taneja said on the company’s fourth quarter earnings call Wednesday that Trump’s tariff policies could be especially damaging.
“Over the years, we’ve tried to localize our supply chain in every market, but we are still very reliant on parts from across the world for all our businesses. Therefore, the imposition of tariffs, which is very likely, will have an impact on our business and profitability,” he said.
Tesla did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
Taneja’s comments come as Tesla’s stock has skyrocketed nearly 60% since the election that returned Musk ally Trump to the White House. Musk put $100 million toward getting Trump elected and is now head of the advisory Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) looking to cut trillions from the federal budget.
Some analysts like Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives have claimed that Musk’s influence in Trump’s administration will be a boon for Tesla and could skyrocket the company’s valuation to $2 trillion from its current $1.29 trillion market cap.
It’s unclear how Tesla will be affected by any tariffs imposed by Trump. Tesla is well known for making its vehicles in the U.S. In 2024, Tesla took the top spot on Cars.com’s American-Made Index for the third consecutive year with the Model Y.
Yet all cars, even those assembled in the U.S., use parts and other components from abroad. According to the Cars.com index, only two vehicles among the 400 it analyzed sourced 75% or more of their parts from the U.S. and Canada.
As for Tesla, the company relies on overseas companies for its batteries. Among its suppliers are Chinese companies BYD and CATL, the largest EV battery cell manufacturer in the world. Earlier this month CATL was added to a Pentagon blacklist because the Department of Defense believes it is helping modernize China’s military. CATL previously denied the accusation in a statement.
Both companies could be affected by Trump’s pledge to impose tariffs on China, the first of which could come by Feb.1. On the campaign trail, Trump promised tariffs as high as 60% on the world’s second-largest economy.
The president has already shown a willingness to impose tariffs on nonconforming countries, as evidenced by the 25% tariffs nearly imposed on Colombia when its president wouldn’t allow military planes transporting undocumented immigrants to land in the country.
Still, CEO Musk is far from deterred by any impending tariffs.
“I see a path. I’m not saying it’s an easy path, but I see a path of Tesla being the most valuable company in the world by far,” he said on Wednesday’s earnings call.
