Tesla shares soar 22.6% as Trump grants tariff pause

ISTANBUL

US-based electric vehicle (EV) maker Tesla's shares surged by 22.69% at Wednesday's close after President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause for countries hit by his reciprocal tariffs except for China.

Tesla's share price rose to $272.2 as a result and the company’s market value reached $852.9 billion.

The EV producer's stock price has fallen by around 44% since December last year due to rising competition from China and CEO Elon Musk's close relationship with Trump.

Musk’s personal fortune broke a record in December as his net worth, tied to his holdings in Tesla, SpaceX, social media platform X and other companies, reached a peak of $486 billion.

But Trump’s policies since taking office have seen Musk’s fortunes sinking.

Musk's losses have been estimated at over $130 billion since mid-January. He lost $31 billion across Thursday and Friday last week and another $4.4 billion Monday, according to Bloomberg, led by falling Tesla shares due to Trump’s tariffs and investor concerns and declining sales, some spurred by his large public role in the Trump administration.

Tesla hit a $1.4 trillion market cap in December, surpassing the combined value of the next 40 largest public automakers.

Trump caused a surge in US stock markets Wednesday after he announced a 90-day reprieve to all nations except China from a Wednesday deadline in which they were expected to be hit with tariffs above his 10% baseline.

"I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately," he wrote on his Truth Social platform.

He also said he was raising the tariff rate on China to 125%.