Tesla removes her models and x in China, strangled by Trump's pricing war
Since April 11, 2025, it is impossible to order a Model S or a Model X on the Chinese site of Tesla. A decision that has not been commented on publicly, but whose causes are clear: the surcharge imposed by China on American imports make these vehicles financially untenable. Result: high -end models made in Fremont desert the second world market in Tesla.
Customs, this other obstacle
Tesla removes its high -end sedans from the Chinese market. © Shutershock
It is a real pricing wall that stood in a few months. 125 % customs duties announced on April 12, in addition to the 20 % already in place since January – total: 145 %. Delirious figures for luxury sedans whose price was already flirting with the summits. At this price, even wealthy customers hesitate, especially in the face of an aggressive local offer, carried by byd or Nio, cheaper and now just as technologically credible. The Tesla Model 3 will have been The first to suffer from the increases imposed by Donald Trump.
In volume, the impact is marginal: Model S and X only represented 1,866 sales in 2024 in China. Nothing compared to the hundreds of thousands of Model 3 and produced there in Shanghai, which, themselves, escape the customs storm. But the signal is strong: Tesla decreases in the face of an unstable geopolitical context and in the face of increasingly conquering Chinese competition.
The giant vacillates, competition jubiles
The Tesla Model X Great autonomy. © Tesla
With a withdrawal production in Shanghai and a 22 % drop in deliveries in the first quarter, Tesla enters a serious turbulence area. The withdrawal of Model S and X is one symptom among others of a company taken between two fires: that of the trade war of course, but also that of a local market which no longer awaits it: during this time, Byd's net profit jumped 119 %and the Xiaomi SU7 continues his little way.
Untrecomed the production of S and X – which seems unprofitable in view of the volumes – Tesla will probably have to make a lasting cross on the premium segment in China. A forced strategic withdrawal which could open a boulevard to its Asian competitors. And make even more difficult the bet of a musk now stuck in geopolitics.
