President Trump confirmed this week that formal tariff letters have been sent to over 150 countries, warning of blanket import levies ranging from 10% to 15% starting August 1—unless new deals are secured. Key allies such as the EU, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and Mexico are already on the clock, while talks with India and China are still unresolved. Markets, once expecting a delay, are now beginning to price in real policy risk, as Goldman Sachs raised its effective tariff forecast.
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Confidence in a potential China deal took a hit Thursday when the Commerce Department announced a 93.5% anti-dumping duty on Chinese graphite, bringing the effective tariff on this key battery material to 160%. That move signals a tougher stance heading into final negotiations—and poses a direct threat to EV makers, battery manufacturers, and energy storage developers reliant on Chinese inputs.
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Graphite alone is expected to add $7 per kilowatt-hour to EV battery costs—roughly $700 extra for a standard 100 kWh battery—wiping out a significant portion of profit margins and undercutting the value of tax credits from the Inflation Reduction Act. If implemented, the tariffs would impact a broad swath of industries—from consumer goods and autos to renewables and semiconductors—raising costs and potentially reigniting inflation just as growth slows. One company seems a potential target of this policy shift: Elon Musk's Tesla. Once the President's bro, Elon's looking a lot more like the foe - and this policy shift could be a shot across the Tesla bow to quiet Musk's anti-Trump posts on X lately.

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