Elon Musk

Tesla Inc. won exemption from a 10% Chinese tax on automotive sales, sidestepping trade tensions with the U.S. following CEO Elon Musk’s visit to the country.

Elon Musk tweeted a Tesla Inc. production number that the company hadn’t communicated previously, presenting the first test case of whether his April settlement with securities regulators has made him more disciplined on social media.

Tesla Inc. is delivering more cars than ever because of the emergence of Model 3 customers like Mike Land. His view of the relative weakness of Elon Musk’s more expensive electric cars also helps explain why the company is still struggling to make money.

Analysts’ fear is that even if Tesla does show marked improvement in deliveries this quarter, Musk will achieve this at the expense of profitability. And with a shrinking U.S. tax credit posing a threat to demand in the second half of the year, Tesla’s efforts to hand over more Model 3s overseas could further compromise earnings because of relatively higher shipping expenses.