Fresh off President Donald Trump’s tariff deal with China, Tesla will resume shipping parts from China to the U.S. for use on Tesla vehicles. Those parts will be used in the production of the Cybercab, as well as Semi trucks.
When will Tesla resume shipping from China?
Reuters is reporting the resumption will take place at the end of May 2025. Tesla had suspended such shipments after President Trump imposed 145% tariffs on Chinese imports.
The compromise, negotiated last weekend, will see the tariffs drop from 145% to 30%.
When will production start?
Tesla hopes to begin production on the two models in October, with plans to crank up mass production in 2026. The Cybercab rollout will reportedly take place in Texas, while the Semi will debut in Nevada. The Semi trucks will be delivered to corporate customers including Pepsi.
Musk and President Trump have reportedly clashed when it comes to tariffs. The Tesla CEO said he favors free trade. Tesla’s Chief Financial Officer spoke on a first-quarter earnings call, saying the tariffs were hurting capital investments as the company had to get equipment out of China in order to ramp up production.
What’s the latest on Musk’s salary and compensation?
Back in 2024, a court in Delaware voided Musk’s 2018 compensation package, ruling that the board’s approval process was flawed and not fair to shareholders. It totaled more than $50 billion. Musk then appealed. He currently has a 13% stake in the company.
The Tesla board has now reportedly formed a two-person committee to review Musk’s compensation as CEO. Reuters reports new stock options would depend on Tesla meeting financial, operational and stock price targets.
What is with the Optimus robot dancing on X?
Tesla is currently trying to reposition itself as an AI and robotics company rather than an automaker despite its fleet of electric vehicles. During the week of May 12, Musk posted multiple videos of Tesla’s Optimus robot dancing on his social media site X. The postings were allegedly designed to showcase what is known as real-time movement and balance.
A couple of the videos have a caption line from Musk.
“Optimus will perform ballet perfectly,” one said.
“This is very far from our final form,” another read.
Posting under Tesla, a remark appears to reference the company’s shift toward robotics and AI.
“We’re a car company right,” the captions under the video of the humanoid moving and dancing said.
Musk previously stated that Optimus will be able to perform various everyday tasks in the future. Production is expected to start sometime in late 2025.