Tesla to raise prices in China in response to tariffs

SHANGHAI — U.S. electric vehicle maker Tesla will raise prices in China on Friday, earlier than planned, and is considering increasing prices again in December should Chinese tariffs on U.S.-made cars take effect, people familiar with the matter said.

The people declined to be identified as the plan has not been made public. A Tesla representative did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on Monday.

The company is among many impacted by Sino-U.S. trade friction. It currently imports all the cars it sells in China and has had to adjust prices multiple times over the past year due to tariff changes.

Reuters reported this month that Tesla was considering a lift in prices in China from September after the yuan weakened significantly against the U.S. dollar. One person told Reuters on Monday that the automaker was bringing forward these plans to Aug. 30.

Both people said the automaker is now also mulling another price hike in December after China’s commerce ministry last week announced it would reinstitute tariffs of 25% on vehicles and 5% on auto parts which it suspended in December, in the latest tit-for-tat escalation of the trade war.

“Tesla will also try to ship more cars to China before December, before the tariff hikes,” said one of the people.