Tesla’s stock sinks toward another weekly loss, the 10th in the past 11 weeks after China retaliates against Trump with new tariffs

Tesla’s stock dives after China retaliates with tariffs on U.S. imports.

Shares of Tesla Inc. took a sharp dive Friday, after China ignored President Trump’s warning not to retaliate with new tariffs.

The selloff is enough to knock the stock back into the red, for what has been a volatile week, which has been marked by surprisingly weak sales data, a report that Chief Executive Elon Musk’s role in the Trump administration was ending soon and a budding trade war.

The stock tumbled 10.4% on Friday, and has now slid 9.2% on the week.

Just before the news that China was retaliating against Trump’s tariffs with 34% levies on all U.S. imports starting April 10, the stock was down about 1% in premarket trading.

The weekly loss would follow last week’s 6% gain, that snapped a record nine-week losing streak.

Photo: FactSet, MarketWatch

A trade war with China could be a big problem for Tesla. China is the electric-vehicle giant’s second-largest market.

The company generated $20.94 billion in revenue from China in 2024, or 21.4% of total revenue. And Tesla has two factories in Shanghai, China, one dubbed a gigafactory and the other a megafactory.

Tesla was already seeing sales fall in China, due in part to increasing competition and a backlash against Trump’s stance on trade, coupled with CEO Musk’s role in the government.

Tesla’s stock has tumbled 43.9% since President Trump was inaugurated. In comparison, the U.S.-listed shares of China-based BYD Co. Ltd., which is by farChina’s biggest new-energy vehicle seller, has soared 29% over the same time.

Data provided by the China Passenger Car Association showed that Tesla’s sales of new EVs in March slumped 11.5% from a year ago, while overall sales of new-energy vehicles in China jumped 30.1%.

For the first quarter, Tesla’s sales in China dropped 22%, while overall sales in China climbed 46% and BYD’s sales hiked up 58%.

Sales have been even worse in some European countries, with France seeing March sales tumbled 41% and Sweden seeing sales plunge 64%.

Tesla’s stock has shed 40.7% year to date, but has still gained 39.9% over the past 12 months. The S&P 500 index has declined 13.7% this year, and slipped 1.4% over the past year. BYD’s stock has soared 74.1% over the past year.