Tesla shares surged after this year's steep decline following reports the Trump administration is likely to exclude a set of sector-specific tariffs while applying reciprocal levies on April 2. Traders also took advantage of the near 40% decline in the stock so far this year to buy into the EV maker.
The EV maker's shares were heavily oversold and Musk's statement last week about the company's bright future and his advice to hold onto shares kickstarted a two-day rally, said Dennis Dick, a trader at Triple D Trading with a long position in the stock. Dick added that reports of reciprocal tariffs not being as broad as initially feared have contributed to the rally in all stocks, with Tesla benefiting from the news. Shares of the company ended 11.93% up at $278.39. Separately, Tesla said it would release its smart driving- assistance feature in China after completing regulatory approval, following complaints that a limited-time free trial of its Full Self-Driving service had been temporarily paused.
U.S. President Donald Trump said that any country buying oil or gas from Venezuela will pay a 25% tariff on trades with the United States, while his administration extended a deadline for U.S. producer Chevron to wind down operations in the South American country. In an expected move, the Trump administration extended until May 27 the wind-down of a license that the U.S. had granted to Chevron since 2022 to operate in sanctioned Venezuela and export its oil. Chevron is only permitted to export that oil to the United States. Trump had initially given Chevron 30 days from March 4 to wind down that license after he accused President Nicolas Maduro of not making progress on electoral reforms and migrant returns. Chevron did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
President Donald Trump's plan to revitalize the U.S. shipbuilding industry is likely to backfire because it relies on proposed fees on China-linked vessels that will hurt domestic ship operators and ports, industry executives will tell the U.S. Trade Representative at hearings this week. In particular, they will say the plan would hurt U.S. ship operators by strictly limiting the vessels they would need to use to avoid the fees, and by concentrating ship traffic at America's biggest ports while leaving the smaller ones neglected. At issue is a proposed charge of up to $1.5 million for Chinese-built or Chinese-flagged vessels docking at U.S. ports. In the short-term at least, the plan is a huge problem for U.S. operators like Seaboard, the largest U.S.-owned international cargo carrier, which has 16 China-built ships in its fleet of 24 vessels, according to maritime data provider Alphaliner. Like many U.S. operators, it relies on ships made in China.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating nearly 1.3 million Ford F-150 pickup trucks in the United States over reports of an unexpected gear downshift accompanied by a temporary rear wheel lock-up. NHTSA said it is opening a preliminary evaluation into some Ford F-150 pickup trucks from the 2015 to 2017 model years after receiving complaints from 138 consumers. Complaints alleged unexpected transmission downshifts to lower gears while traveling at highway speeds without warning or driver input, followed by the vehicle rapidly decelerating. A Ford spokesperson said the automaker is "working with NHTSA to support its investigation" and said it is related to vehicles with six- speed transmissions. Some complaints said the vehicle's rear wheels would lock temporarily, seize or skid during the downshift, leading to loss of control. This could lead to an increased risk of a crash, NHTSA said. The agency said no crashes or fires had been reported.
