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Elon Musk warns Tesla employees over future of German megafactory ahead of union election

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Tesla’s sales in Europe are plummeting — and now Elon Musk has a warning for employees at the company’s German megafactory ahead of crucial union elections.

In an interview with Giga Berlin senior director Andre Thierig posted on X on Thursday, Musk said Tesla would “ideally” expand its only European gigafactory and start production of its battery cells, Cybercab robotaxi, and Optimus robot at the site.

Asked if he had any advice for the team at Giga Berlin to work toward that vision, Musk said any expansion was contingent on Tesla being free from interference from “outside organizations.”

“Things certainly get harder if there are outside organizations who are pushing Tesla in the wrong direction,” said Musk.

“It’s difficult to say that then we would expand, if we had outside organizations who were making things very difficult. We’re not going to shut down the factory, but we wouldn’t expand it either,” said the Tesla CEO.

The billionaire’s comments come ahead of a crucial vote at Tesla’s German factory next week, with powerful German union IG Metall pushing to gain control of the site’s work council — an elected body of employees required by local laws that negotiates pay deals and working hours with management.

German publication Handelsblatt first reported Musk’s comments, which it said were screened for employees on Wednesday.

Tesla clashes with union

The run-up to the election has been marked by fierce disputes between the union and Tesla’s executives. Earlier this month, Tesla filed a criminal complaint against an IG Metall representative, accusing them of secretly recording an internal meeting.

IG Metall, which has frequently clashed with Tesla over working conditions at Giga Berlin over the past few years, denied the allegation and responded with its own complaint accusing Thierig of defamation. The union said Thursday that both sides had agreed on a truce ahead of the works council elections.

The debate over Giga Berlin’s future comes as Tesla’s sales in Europe have collapsed. The US automaker saw registrations of its EVs fall nearly 38% in the EU last year, as it was hit by backlash over Musk’s political interventions and backing of German far-right party AfD.

In January, Tesla’s European sales dropped to just 8,000 units, according to data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association, less than half the number sold by Chinese rival BYD.

Musk also said in the interview that Tesla expects to receive approval to sell Full-Self-Driving driver assist technology in the Netherlands on March 20.




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US tariffs are paid almost entirely by Americans, a German study finds

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A favorite tool of President Donald Trump has been costing Americans, according to new study.

The brunt of US tariffs — 96% — have been paid by US buyers, research from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy, a German think tank, found, while about 4% of the tariff burden was paid by foreign exporters.

“American importers and consumers bear nearly all the cost,” the researchers said of the tariffs.

The study, published Monday, said that the $200 billion increase in customs revenue that the US government raised in 2025 was a “tax paid almost entirely by Americans.”

The research contradicts Trump’s messaging that tariff costs would not be paid by Americans, but by other countries and overseas exporters. The president’s aggressive tariff policy launched last year placed additional duties on dozens of trade partners, including China, India, and the European Union.

The Kiel Institute study examined more than 25 million shipment records, worth nearly $4 trillion, between January 2024 and November 2025. The researchers found that there was a “near-complete pass-through” of the tariffs.

“US import prices rise nearly one-for-one with tariffs, while trade volumes contract,” the study said.

The findings echo other research that has found Americans are paying for tariffs, including from Harvard Business School and The Budget Lab at Yale. Analysts at Deutsche Bank and Bank of America also said last year that Americans were the ones paying for the tariffs.

The Kiel study said American importers and wholesalers are first hit by the tariff cost, followed by manufacturers and retailers, all of which must choose whether to absorb the tariff or pass it on to their customers. American consumers are then hit by increased prices, both on imported goods or American-made products that use foreign inputs. There’s been more limited availability of goods in the US, the researchers found.

Trump has continued to use tariffs, saying on Saturday that he would impose additional tariffs on Denmark and other European countries unless they agree to a deal that would transfer Greenland to the US.

Many of Trump’s tariff policies could also be undone. The Supreme Court is expected to rule soon on the legality of a host of Trump’s tariffs that were instituted under an emergency national security law. Trump has said the US would be “screwed” if the tariffs are overturned.




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