The Boring Co, a firm owned by Elon Musk, has asked the White House to exempt it from tariffs for some Chinese-made tunnel boring machine components.
Reuters cited the July 31 letter by the Boring Co as saying that the tariffs may substantially delay a planned tunnel between New York and Washington.
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The letter, published on a US government website, added that Boring Co needs "limited parts from China in the near-term for use in a small number of tunnel boring machines" and that those parts are "readily available only from China."
The New York-Washington tunnel is part of the Boring Co's plans to ferry passengers on autonomous electric vehicles carrying up to 16 passengers at about 120 miles (193 kilometers) per hour.
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Beijing has responded with tit-for-tat measures, targeting US LNG among other American exports.
In July, Washington introduced high duties against $34 billion in Chinese imports, in a move that was preceded by US President Donald Trump confirming in mid-June that a 25-percent tariff would be imposed on $50 billion in Chinese goods.
