| Thanks for reading Hyperdrive, Bloomberg's newsletter on the future of the auto world. Read today's featured story in full online here. The emergence of Elon Musk as one of Donald Trump's top campaign donors bodes well for Xi Jinping if the former US president wins back the White House. The billionaire chief executive officer of Tesla, who's donated more than $100 million to support Trump, has extensive business interests in China. He enjoyed perks that were rarely offered to other foreign investors, such as when Tesla got an unprecedented concession to wholly control its local subsidiary. Today, half of all Tesla electric vehicles are made in China. Musk's views on some of the most sensitive US-China issues also closely align with those of Xi. The businessman has said Taiwan should effectively be under Beijing's control, and expressed opposition to US duties on Chinese electric vehicles — a stance that differs from Trump's threat to impose tariffs of as much as 60% on all goods made in China. In April, with Tesla's revenue declining, Musk paid a surprise visit to China to seek approval to launch its driver-assistance software in the world's biggest auto market. He met with Premier Li Qiang, who as the Chinese Communist Party secretary for Shanghai helped the company set up what is now its top plant globally. Shortly afterward, Tesla's locally made cars cleared a key data security and privacy requirement in China. "We have a pattern with Musk that he flatters the Chinese and they give him special treatment, and they will use that absolutely to try to influence the Trump administration," Derek Scissors, senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute who previously worked at the Pentagon. "He is extremely pro-China."  Musk with Chinese Premier Li Qiang in April. Photographer: Wang Ye/Xinhua/Getty Images Musk's views on China represent a stark contrast to others within Trump's orbit when it comes to policy toward the world's second-biggest economy. Robert O'Brien, Trump's former national security adviser, wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine this year that the US should sever all economic ties with China, while Michael Pompeo, a former secretary of state, has called on the US to recognize Taiwan as a nation. During Musk's trips to China, he's routinely received by senior Chinese leaders, including Li and his various ministers. His mother, Maye Musk, enjoys star status in the country. Besides becoming the first international carmaker in China to operate without a joint venture with a local manufacturer — an exception not granted to the likes of Volkswagen or General Motors — Tesla is positioning itself for other perks. Just last month, the official China Daily newspaper said Tesla is likely to be one of the first firms to join a pilot program that allows foreign companies to operate their own telecommunications infrastructure, which could help the automaker move closer toward deploying its driver-assistance system. "The Tesla-China relationship is one of 'co-dependence,' where Tesla needs China for its manufacturing scale and supply chain sophistication, while China welcomes Tesla for its technology leadership," said Kevin Xu, a tech investor and founder of Interconnected Capital based in the US. "I can see Musk becoming a key interlocutor between the US and China on many technology and trade matters in a second Trump administration," Xu said. "Musk will likely push Trump to be more friendly towards EV adoption in the US, which Trump has not been so far."  Photo illustration: Arsh Raziuddin The outcome of the US election will have a major impact globally, from Ukraine and the Mideast to world trade. The most Hyperdrive-relevant section of today's Big Take breaks down how Donald Trump and Kamala Harris differ with respect to tariffs. Bloomberg Economics estimates that if Trump follows through on his calls for sweeping tariffs of up to 20% on imports, plus levies as high as 60% on trade with China, the US share of global goods trade may crater to 9% by 2028 from the current 21%. Harris, on the other hand, is likely to maintain President Joe Biden's "small yard, high fence" policy to block China's access to critical technologies. | 
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