Rift between Musk and Trump? Why Potus doesn’t want Tesla in India

US President Donald Trump believes it is “impossible” for Tesla CEO Elon Musk to sell cars in India.

Musk met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Washington during the latter’s visit to the US.

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Within a week of the meeting, Tesla started **hiring in India** and posted job openings for positions in the country.

Why does Trump, an ally of Musk, not believe that Tesla entering the Indian market is a good idea?

Let’s find out:

Why Trump does not want Tesla entering India

In an interview with Fox News, Donald Trump said that if Tesla were to set up a factory in India to bypass the **country's tariffs**, it would be “unfair” to the US.

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During PM Modi’s recent visit to the US, Trump criticised India’s high car import duties but agreed to work towards an early trade deal to address **tariff disputes**.

Notably, Musk has long opposed India’s steep import tariffs, arguing that they protect domestic manufacturers like Tata Motors in the world’s third-largest auto market, where EV adoption is still in its early stages.

Here's the full President TRUMP & ELON Musk, interview from earlier today on Fox News pic.twitter.com/SfavuRexXq

— Nathan Storm🇺🇸 (@Teamhumanitygo2) February 19, 2025

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Trump stated that selling a Tesla in India is “impossible.”

“Every country in the world takes advantage of us, and they do it with tariffs… It is impossible to sell a car, practically, in, as an example, India,” he said.

He added that Musk setting up a factory in India would be “unfair” to the US.

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“Now, if he built the factory in India, that’s okay, but that’s unfair to us. It’s very unfair,” Trump said.

A White House fact sheet notes that India imposes a 100% tariff on US motorcycles, while the US charges only 2.4% on Indian motorcycles.

Trump’s push for reciprocal tariffs on countries taxing US imports has heightened fears of a global trade war with both allies and rivals.

Times when Trump, Musk have ‘differed’

In a joint interview with Fox News Channel, both Donald Trump and **Elon Musk** spoke about their mutual admiration and dismissed media attempts to “drive us apart.”

Trump admitted he was not well-acquainted with Musk until recently. “I knew him a little bit through the White House originally,” he said, adding that they had no prior connection.

Musk and Trump have clashed in the past, particularly over climate change. Their disputes continued as recently as July 2022, when Trump called Musk a “bulls—- artist” and accused him of seeking federal subsidies for “electric cars that don’t drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere.”

More recently, Musk criticised an AI infrastructure investment Trump promoted. However, Trump downplayed the remarks.

When asked if Musk’s opposition bothered him, he replied, “No, it doesn’t. He hates one of the people in the deal.”

“I’ve spoken to Elon. I’ve spoken to all of them, actually. The people in the deal are very, very smart people,” Trump continued. “But Elon, one of the people in the deal he happens to hate, but I have certain hatreds of people too.”

Trump announced the Stargate AI project alongside OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son. Musk quickly clashed with Altman on social media and questioned the project’s funding.

While Musk has publicly stated he loves Trump “as much as any straight man could,” political analysts speculate their alliance may eventually fracture as Musk’s influence in the administration grows.

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Tesla’s entry in India: What we know

Tesla has officially started hiring in India, marking a major step toward its long-awaited entry into the domestic market. While some executives were brought on board in 2022, several top-level employees left when Tesla put its India plans on hold.

Since late last year, the automaker has been scouting for **showroom locations** in India.

It has now listed 13 job openings on its website and LinkedIn for customer-facing and back-end roles in Mumbai, the country’s financial hub.

One of the listings includes a “store manager” position responsible for overseeing sales, indicating Tesla’s plans to open a showroom in the city. The company is also hiring for delivery operations and customer support roles.

This development comes after a **key meeting** between Musk and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on February 14 in Washington DC.

Their discussions focused on strengthening India-US cooperation in innovation, space exploration, artificial intelligence, and sustainable development. They also explored emerging technologies, entrepreneurship, and governance, which align with Tesla’s vision for India.

Tesla, a global leader in electric vehicles and renewable energy, has maintained a limited presence in India but has been eyeing expansion for years. The latest job listings indicate the company is now taking concrete steps to establish itself in the world’s third-largest automobile market.

The move also aligns with India’s push for electric vehicle adoption and local manufacturing, backed by incentives under the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme.

With inputs from agencies