Elon Musk openly criticizes "tariff hawk" Navarro, calling for free trade, even proposing "zero tariffs" between Europe and the United States.

Elon Musk suddenly opposes trade barriers, calling for the establishment of a zero-tariff free trade area between the US and Europe, creating sharp disagreements with the Trump administration's tariff policies. After President Trump announced a comprehensive new tariff policy that caused the stock market to plummet for two days, Musk suddenly broke his silence on trade policy, openly criticizing Peter Navarro, the chief trade adviser in the Trump administration, and calling for a more liberal trade environment. Just from Tesla's stock alone, Musk lost nearly $18 billion. As this close associate of Trump begins publicly questioning the White House's trade strategy, investors should be wary of the potential internal divisions and policy uncertainties that could arise from the US "economic restructuring" plan. Public Conflict between Musk and Navarro On Friday morning, Musk sharply responded on his social media platform X to a user who defended Navarro. The user claimed that Navarro, as someone with a Harvard economics Ph.D., has the authority to speak on tariff issues. Musk expressed a different opinion early Saturday morning, stating, "Having a Harvard economics Ph.D. is a bad thing, not a good thing," implying that such a background could lead to "inflation of the self more than wisdom." A reader quoted a statement by Thomas Sowell: "In every disaster in American history, there is always someone from Harvard." Musk immediately replied "yes," indicating his agreement. When another user further defended Navarro, Musk bluntly responded, "He has never accomplished anything." Stunning Turnaround: Musk Calls for Zero Tariffs between US and Europe More notably, according to Bloomberg, Musk later attended a political event in Italy via video on Saturday, where he openly called for the elimination of trade barriers. "In my opinion, Europe and America should ideally move towards a zero-tariff status and effectively establish a free trade area between Europe and North America," Musk stated at the event. This position sharply contrasts with the recent tariff policies announced by the Trump administration, showing a clear disagreement with Musk, who was once seen as a Trump ally, on trade issues. White House Reaction and Economic Team Disagreements The White House has not yet responded to Musk's comments. It is worth noting that besides Navarro, other senior officials in the Trump administration's economic team hold Harvard economics Ph.D.s, including Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers, Stephen Miran. Recently, Navarro has been appearing frequently on television programs defending Trump's tariff plan, claiming it will bring in approximately $600 billion in new revenue each year. Trump has called these tariff measures an "economic revolution," stating that large corporations will ultimately benefit from the upcoming tax cuts. Possibly Cooling Relations between Musk and the Trump Administration Trump stated on Thursday that Musk may fade out from government work in the coming months. As the head of DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), Musk recently stated that his work in cutting $1 trillion in deficit is likely to be completed soon. With Musk's sudden public intervention on trade policy, efforts by the US to reshape the global economic order may face more uncertainty, and investors should closely monitor the potential impact of these disagreements on market and economic policy trends. This article is reprinted from "Wall Street News," author: Pan Lingfei; GMTEight editor: Huang Xiaodong.