US Waives Tariff on Tesla Battery Cells

The U.S. Commerce Department has agreed to Tesla’s request to waive 10 percent tariffs on imported aluminum from Japan.

June 25, 2019

June 25, 2019—The U.S. Commerce Department has agreed to Tesla Inc’s request to waive 10 percent tariffs on imported aluminum from Japan used in the manufacturing of battery cells at Tesla’s Nevada Gigafactory, according to a report by Reuters.

The waiver is good for one year. The Commerce Department said in a document dated June 5 and posted on a government website in recent days that the aluminum “is not produced in the United States in a sufficient and reasonably available amount or of a satisfactory quality.”

The battery cells are assembled into packs which are the energy source for the Tesla Model 3 vehicle as well as energy storage products.