Elon Musk's brother, Kimbal Musk, says Trump's tariffs are a 'permanent tax on the American consumer'

• Kimbal Musk, Elon Musk's brother, said President Donald Trump's tariffs are a tax on consumers.
• Trump is the "most high tax American President in generations," Kimbal wrote on X.
• Both Musk brothers are critical of the Trump administration's tariff policy.

Kimbal Musk has echoed his high-profile brother Elon Musk in criticizing President Donald Trump's slate of reciprocal tariffs.

"Who would have thought that Trump was actually the most high tax American President in generations," Kimbal Musk, an investor and food-industry entrepreneur, wrote in a post on X Monday.

"Through his tariff strategy, Trump has implemented a structural, permanent tax on the American consumer," Kimbal Musk added.

"Even if he is successful in bringing jobs on shore through the tariff tax, prices will remain high and the tax on consumption will remain the form of higher prices because we are simply not as good at making all things," he added.

On Wednesday, Trump announced tariffs on 185 countries. The tariffs, which start at a baseline rate of 10%, will affect both the US's allies and rivals.

The European Union was hit with a 20% tariff, while China was slapped with a 34% tariff. That's on top of the 20% tariff Trump imposed on China last month, meaning China is now facing a 54% tariff.

Trump's tariffs, which are set to take effect on April 9, have spooked investors. The S&P 500 is down by nearly 14% year to date, and the Nasdaq Composite is down 19% year to date.

"I don't want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something," Trump said of his tariffs on Sunday.

Trump's tariffs have drawn criticism from many top markets and economy commenters.

"Never before has an hour of Presidential rhetoric cost so many people so much," Larry Summers, a former Treasury secretary, wrote on X. "The best estimate of the loss from tariff policy is now closer to $30 trillion."

"If you had any hopes that Trump would step back from the brink, this announcement, between the very high tariff rates and the complete falsehoods about what other countries do, should kill them," wrote the Nobel Memorial Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman.

Kimbal Musk's comments come as Elon Musk — a major Trump backer and the acting head of the DOGE — has recently broken with Trump and his administration on tariffs.

On Saturday, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO said he wants to see a "zero-tariff situation" and a "free trade zone" between Europe and the US.

On Saturday, Elon Musk also criticized Trump's top economic advisor, Peter Navarro. The Harvard-trained economist was also a part of Trump's first administration, where he pushed for a trade war with China.

"A PhD in Econ from Harvard is a bad thing, not a good thing," Elon Musk said of Navarro's academic background.

Representatives for Kimbal Musk and the White House did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.