In a climate of rising economic nationalism, Elon Musk has publicly broken ranks with U.S. leadership by promoting the virtues of international trade. As President Donald Trump expands his global tariff campaign, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO is making a pointed case for open markets and borderless economic cooperation.
Musk Shares Classic Free-Market Message
On Monday, Musk posted a video on X featuring the late economist Milton Friedman explaining how a simple pencil embodies the power of global cooperation. In the clip, Friedman highlights that thousands of people from different countries contributed to making the pencil — a vivid example of how interconnected supply chains create everyday goods.
“This is the magic of the price system,” Friedman says in the video. “It’s essential not only for productive efficiency, but more importantly, for promoting harmony and peace among peoples.”
Musk’s endorsement of the video — shared without comment — was anything but subtle. It came just days after he voiced strong opposition to protectionist policies, calling instead for a transatlantic free trade zone and expanded freedom of movement between Europe and North America.
“Europe and the United States should move to a zero-tariff situation,” Musk said over the weekend, as cited by HotNews.ro. “More freedom for people to work in either region should also be part of the equation.”
A Contrasting Vision to Trump’s Trade Doctrine
Musk’s remarks and online activity signal a sharp contrast to the Trump administration’s latest move — a sweeping set of tariffs targeting nearly all imports from the European Union, including a 20% duty on Italian goods. Italy, noted for its trade surplus with the U.S., is among the hardest hit.
Although Musk has advised Trump in the past and has played a vocal role in U.S. public policy debates, his recent comments suggest growing ideological distance from the president’s trade strategy.
Speaking via video at a right-wing political event in Florence hosted by Italy’s Lega party, Musk framed free trade as both economically rational and morally preferable — a system that minimizes waste and maximizes peace.
As global markets reel from tariff-driven uncertainty, Musk’s message stands as a rare high-profile defense of globalization — and a call to preserve the cross-border cooperation that, in his view, powers not just pencils, but progress.
