Is Elon Musk distancing himself from Trump? The billionaire’s call to eliminate tariffs between Europe and the United States

Elon Musk is distancing himself from President Donald Trump’s new tariff regime. Though Musk has been seen as one of the president’s closest and most influential advisors since retaking the White House, the Tesla mogul spoke out in favor of a “zero tariff situation” between the United States and the European Union, breaking away to a certain extent, from the president’s rhetoric.

Musk hopes that Trump’s new tariff policy will serve to lay the foundations for a possible transatlantic free trade zone and came during a remote speech at an event of Italy’s right-wing, co-ruling League Party, which was held in Florence over the weekend. The event followed an announcement from the White House that European Union members would see 20 percent tariffs applied to the vast majority of imports.

Musk said that an ideal situation, from his perspective, would be for the United States and Europe to move towards a “zero tariff situation.”

For Musk, reducing trade barriers would "effectively [create] a free trade some between Europe and North America."

During his remarks, the billionaire also said that he was interested in seeing “more freedom” of movement between Europe and the United States."

“If people wish to work in Europe or wish to work in North America, they should be allowed to do so in my view,” said the world’s richest man, who made clear that this opinion had been expressed to President Trump.

Trump’s tariff war

Musk’s remarks come days after President Trump unveiled base tariffs of 10% on all of his trading partners, along with higher tariffs for all nations that have treated the United States “unfairly.” Along the same lines, the United States imposed a 20% tariff on the European Union.

Despite facing criticism, Trump stands resolutely by his new trade plan, calling it an “economic revolution” designed to benefit the US economy. European leaders have made clear their intention to retaliate against the tariffs imposed by Washington, but there have been some disagreements between industries and countries over which US imports should be targeted to avoid severe economic consequences for European businesses.

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