Musk shelled Biden for "deliberately ignoring Tesla every time." Musk infographic. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
Musk, ceo of the American electric car company Tesla, has expressed dissatisfaction with US President Biden again.
On February 22, local time, Musk accused Biden of ignoring Tesla in an email to the media. "Every time Biden deliberately ignores Tesla and falsely claims to the public that GM leads the electric car industry, the truth is that Tesla produced more than 300,000 electric vehicles last quarter, while GM only produced 26." Musk said in an email.
However, Musk also said that if he is invited to speak at the White House event, he will not do embarrassing things or say embarrassing things, which is exactly what the White House is worried about.
Although Musk expressed his desire to meet with Biden in an email, he did not get a response from the White House. So far, the two have never officially met. Since taking office, Biden has held several meetings with U.S. big business leaders, including two electric car summits, but Musk has never been invited, and Biden has only mentioned Tesla once in public — not so long ago.
Like Musk, electric cars are also a new industry that Biden has high hopes for, but why do the two people look down on each other?
For political reasons, even if it is repeatedly "shelled" by Musk, Biden must choose to side with the millions of UAW. Biden Infographic. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
UAW is the main cause of tension
Biden and Musk are strained, and unions are the main reason. Biden aides have revealed that the White House believes Musk is anti-union, and the Biden administration is unlikely to offend unions.
The union here refers to the National Automobile Workers' Federation (UAW). How strong is UAW? UAW currently has more than 400,000 active members, 580,000 retired members, and more than 600 local unions in the United States, Puerto Rico and Canada. The council, which has signed 1,150 agreements with about 1,600 employers, including big car companies like GM and Chevrolet, is very good at collective bargaining — including strikes and persuasion of members of Congress.
Influenced by tradition, UAW is powerful in the "Rust Zone" in the United States, because UAW rose up when there was no "rust" in these areas, and there was a "rust culture". Tesla's temperament is completely different from UAW.
Tesla's factory in the United States is located in California, and it has a larger capacity outside the United States. Musk's whimsy does not match the UAW tradition, and has always been considered the most anti-union CEO, and even attracted the attention of the National Labor Relations Council.
Between Musk and the million-strong UAW, even the most stupid politician knows where to go. Therefore, Biden favored UAWs such as GM and ignored Tesla. This eventually enraged Musk, publicly accusing Biden of being a "UAW puppet." Since then, Musk has repeatedly ridiculed Biden as a "sleepy Joe" and "humanoid wet sock puppet", and the two have a grudge.
▲ On November 12, 2019 local time, Musk (center) participated in the "Golden Steering Wheel Award" award ceremony hosted by the German "Automotive Pictorial" in Berlin, Germany. Tesla, which has built large-scale factories abroad, also contradicts the US government's manufacturing repatriation policy. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
The contradictions over taxation have deepened
Another issue that has sparked conflict between Musk and Biden is taxation.
UAW is actually not cold to electric vehicles, because electric vehicles have more than 30% fewer components than traditional cars, and the development of electric vehicles will lead to a large loss of traditional car production jobs. In addition, part of the profits of electric vehicles flow to upstream raw material enterprises, and the development of electric vehicles will further dilute the profits of manufacturers.
Therefore, in the face of Biden's "national policy" to develop electric vehicles, UAW's current position is to require the Biden government to deduct taxes on electric vehicles produced by union corporate members, and non-members will not be credited.
Musk believes that this is unfair competition, so with the UAW it is "Mars colliding with The Earth". To this end, Musk also accused the UAW of sending undercover agents to Tesla.
In addition to the electric vehicle tax credit, Musk, the world's richest man, is also not impressed by the Biden administration's policy of taxing the rich. Musk is also worried that the Biden administration will set a minimum tax rate on profitable large corporations. Tesla lost money in the past and did not have to pay federal value-added tax, but now it is difficult to make a profit but catch up with the rigid tax, and it is naturally unhappy in its heart.
In addition, Musk is also worried that in order to return to "Made in America", the Biden administration will subsidize companies that set up factories in the United States. For a multinational company like Tesla that has set up factories on a large scale overseas, this is unfavorable.
Musk's recent backlash with Biden is that he has publicly supported the Demonstration of Canadian truck convoys, which has had a negative impact on the U.S. commodity supply chain. Photo: Xinhua News Agency
It is also contradictory in public affairs
Perhaps because of the above grievances, Musk often contradicts Biden in public affairs.
For example, Musk has also been very critical of the Biden administration's epidemic prevention policy, even calling the stay-at-home orders in the early days of the epidemic "fascism"; the most recent thing is that Musk has publicly supported Canadian truck drivers who oppose compulsory vaccination.
In terms of epidemic prevention policies, there has never been a shortage of controversies within the United States and Canada. But there was something special about the Canadian truck convoy demonstration — it once led to the blockade of the U.S.-Canada border bridge, forcing Biden to step in and speak with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
The United States has not yet escaped from the obstruction of commodity supply chains, and the blockade of the US-Canada border bridge is undoubtedly worse. Although Musk only gave the truck drivers a side drum, for Biden, this is a sign of congestion in a sensitive period.
Going back to Musk's latest email, will Biden invite him to the White House to create conditions for easing relations? This is not possible, at least in the near term. Now, Biden has a bunch of international and domestic troubles in front of him, none of which is much more urgent than dealing with his relationship with Musk.
Beijing News special writer | Xu Lifan (Columnist)
Edit | He Rui
Proofreading | Zhao Lin