Elon Musk says he's against Biden tariffs on Chinese EV's

FILE PHOTO: Elon Musk, Chief Executive Officer of SpaceX and Tesla and owner of X looks on during the Milken Conference 2024 Global Conference Sessions at The Beverly Hilton in Beverly Hills, California, U.S., May 6, 2024. REUTERS/David Swanson/File Photo

By Martin Coulter

PARIS (Reuters) -Tesla founder Elon Musk told tech investors in Paris on Thursday that he was against tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles, intended to boost U.S. manufacturing, saying he didn't favour measures that distorted the market.

U.S. President Joe Biden has rolled out new tariffs on imports of Chinese electric vehicles and batteries, in an attempt to protect American auto jobs.

"Neither Tesla nor I asked for these tariffs, in fact I was surprised when they were announced. Things that inhibit freedom of exchange or distort the market are not good," Musk said.

He said Tesla competes "quite well in the market in China", adding "I'm in favor of no tariffs".

The Tesla mogul was speaking via videolink at the annual "Viva Technology" conference in Paris, where leading tech executives and political figures -- including ex-Google Eric Schmidt and former U.S. climate envoy John Kerry -- also took to the stage.

(Reporting by Martin Coulter, Tassilo Hummel, Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Frances Kerry)