Tesla halted Mexico factory plans amid Donald Trump tariff threat Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced on Tuesday, July 23, that his electric vehicle company’s plans to build a new gigafactory in Mexico are on pause till the November presidential election. According to Fox Business, this decision came after the former US President promised to impose a duty on cars made in Mexico. Musk said, “We're currently on pause on Giga Mexico. I think we need to see just where things stand after the election. Trump has said that he will put heavy tariffs on vehicles produced in Mexico, so it doesn't make sense to invest a lot in Mexico if that is going to be the case. So we will kind of need to see how things play out politically.” The tech giant further added, “However, we are increasing capacity at our existing factories quite significantly, and I should say that the Robotaxi will get produced here at our headquarters at Giga Texas, as will Optimus towards the end of next year for Optimus production version two, the high-volume version of Optimus will also be produced here in Texas.” Additionally, the Republican nominee for president, Trump, during his campaign speech in March vowed to impose a 100% tariff on vehicles made by Chinese auto companies in Mexico. Prince Harry says fighting tabloids severed rift with royal family