Tesla will no longer let customers in China order the Model S or Model X. The automaker’s consumer website for the country continues to list the two electric vehicles, but it doesn’t provide a way for people to order either, like it continues to do for the Model 3 or Model Y.
According to a Reuters report, Tesla also removed the models from its WeChat Mini Programs account. The inability to order the two American-built electric vehicles arrives as tensions over trade and tariffs between the United States and China escalate.
Last week, in a tit-for-tat dance, US President Donald Trump raised tariffs on imported goods from China by 125 percent—on top of an already-imposed 20-percent duty. China responded in kind, issuing a 125 percent on imported products from the United States, making cars like the Model S and Model X far more expensive than China’s domestic offerings.
Tesla sales were also down globally 13 percent through the first three months of the year, and the tariff volatility likely isn’t helping. Last week, the automaker announced a cheaper Cybertruck variant, which costs nearly $72,000, after cutting the updated Model Y’s price by $11,000 earlier in the month.
The American brand sold fewer than 2,000 Model S and Model X vehicles in China last year, while delivering over 657,000 vehicles globally. Tesla builds the Model S and Model X at its Fremont, California, factory. The automaker has a plant in Shanghai where it builds Model 3s and Model Ys for the Chinese market, which make up most of the automaker’s sales.
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