Tech billionaire Elon Musk has criticized a Canadian province’s decision to remove Tesla from a rebate program on electric products.
British Columbia Premier David Eby said that he would be barring Tesla products from the province’s electric rebate policy “to “preference Canadian goods.”
Newsweek contacted Tesla and Eby’s office for comment via email outside of regular office hours.
Why It Matters
The move is the latest retaliation coming from Canada towards the U.S., as tariffs between the two countries continue to ramp up. The specific targeting of Tesla occurs as its CEO is closely associated with President Donald Trump and his administration’s aggressive tariff policy.
What To Know
Eby announced on Wednesday that Tesla products would no longer be part of British Columbia’s CleanBC or BC Hydro rebates, which can grant up to 50 percent of the cost to people who install a charging station at home, according to the BC Hydro website.
In a statement, Eby said: “The Government of B.C. and BC Hydro are taking action to preference Canadian goods in our rebate programs going forward and to exclude, where practicable, U.S. produced goods.
Elon Musk arrives for President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2025. Elon Musk arrives for President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress in the House Chamber of the US Capitol in Washington, DC, on March 4, 2025. Getty Images
“As of March 12, 2025, Tesla products (electric vehicle chargers, energy storage batteries and inverters) are not eligible for CleanBC and BC Hydro rebates. If you purchased or have received pre-approval for your Tesla product before March 12, 2025, it can still qualify for rebates and will be processed as normal.”
Musk responded on social media by calling the move “crazy”, retweeting a post that suggested he should cut off Canadian access to SpaceX and Starlink in retaliation.
Musk’s high-profile association with the Trump administration has aligned with a global decline in Tesla sales.
In late February, a petition to strip Musk of his Canadian citizenship had received thousands of signatures before being sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. It described Musk’s activity as “against the national interest of Canada.”
What People Are Saying
Elon Musk has previously posted on social media that: “Canada is not a real country,” according to CNN. However, the post has since been deleted.
British Columbia David Eby said on Thursday: “It’s just for Tesla, and it’s because of Elon Musk. I think that if British Columbians heard that C$10,000 of taxpayer money was going to Elon Musk, they’d want to throw up, so we removed them from the program.”
President Donald Trump has repeatedly called for Canada to become the 51st state, writing on Truth Social: “The artificial line of separation drawn many years ago will finally disappear, and we will have the safest and most beautiful Nation anywhere in the World — And your brilliant anthem, ‘O Canada,’ will continue to play, but now representing a GREAT and POWERFUL STATE within the greatest Nation that the World has ever seen!”
What Happens Next
Trump has said more tariffs are coming for Canada and others in April.
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