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Elon Musk Apologizes to Bricks for Calling Peter Navarro Dumber Than a Sack of Bricks – Twitchy

There’s been some infighting in the Trump administration that’s been playing out on X. Elon Musk and senior trade adviser Peter Navarro are arguing about tariffs, and Navarro is claiming that Musk isn’t a car manufacturer but a car assembler, using parts imported from other nations like Japan and China.





The infighting began last week, when, in a now-deleted post, Musk took on Navarro:

The latest split was inspired by an interview that Navarro gave to CNBC on Monday:

“… (which in the EV case are the batteries) come from Japan and come from China. The electronics come from Taiwan… 

What we want — and the difference is in our thinking and Elon’s on this — is that we want the tires made in Akron. We want the transmissions made in Indianapolis. We want the engines made in Flint and Saginaw. And we want the cars manufactured here.”

That post had a Community Note appended:

Readers added context they thought people might want to know

According to cars.com’s ranking, the most American-made car is the Tesla Model Y.

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Ah yes, the famous Ron Vara, a good friend of Pierre Delecto.





Speaking of touring manufacturing plants, Navarro brought up BMW’s factory in South Carolina. Here’s a lengthy post:

… largest in the world — and I watched it transform my state and region with more than $13 billion invested in since 1992, 11,000 jobs onsite at an 8 million square foot campus, $10+ billion in exports in 2023 alone, etc. One study put the annual economic impact of the plant at $27 billion. In a small state, these are absolutely game-changing numbers.

For all these reasons, BMW’s investment has been hailed as a turning point in the state’s economic history. Earlier this year, for example, Gov. Henry McMaster said this: “BMW’s arrival in South Carolina over 30 years ago transformed our economy and global reputation.” He’s right. The investment was instrumental in helping the state transition from a textile-dependent economy for most of the 20th century to one with a vibrant advanced manufacturing industry today. 

In light of all this, how in the world does Navarro conclude that BMW’s investment “doesn’t work for America”? I mean, even trade restrictionists have long praised this kind of inbound foreign direct investment in U.S. auto manufacturing. Not Navarro. He’s setting a new bar:  whatever benefits BMW has delivered are more than canceled out by the fact that it sources parts from a global supply chain. And this is the vision behind the new tariff agenda.





A reported brought up Musk’s remarks at Tuesday’s press briefing with Karoline Leavitt:

This feud is nowhere near over. Get your popcorn.

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