“Shark Tank” billionaire Kevin O’Leary doesn’t think President-elect Donald Trump’s proposed tariffs on China go far enough.
O’Leary said on CNN’s “Newsnight” that China is responsible for fentanyl trafficking into the United States and wants to see higher tariffs on China. He asked them to become stronger. Tariffs on goods from that country alone are not enough.
“Where is China? China is on the front lines of this fentanyl issue. And I don’t think the real tariff war is going to be against Mexico or Canada. Since joining the WTO in 1999, The focus is on the cheaters, the liars, the thieves. This country’s leaders, not its people, just don’t want to play by the rules,” he said on CNN on Tuesday.
“And I put that into practice every day in business. I went to Defcon 1 with China and said 400 percent tariffs, what I said, take the supreme leader to Washington, or buy food. “I want to crush the economy until there are riots in the streets demanding this,” he added.
President Trump threatened to impose new tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China on his first day in office as part of a fight against illegal immigration and drugs. He said imports from Mexico and Canada would be subject to a 25% tariff, and imports from China would be subject to an additional 10% tariff.
Mr O’Leary said Trump would “get even tougher on China” but insisted he should do more to crush the country.
“What you have to do is target the parts of their economy that have a lot of workers. Let’s take yoga mats as just one example. If you import 1 million yoga mats a month, There will be a 400 percent tariff on all the yoga mat factories, and everyone will be unemployed. They will go to the streets and shout to the supreme leader, “We are starving,” and there will be riots. he said before the crosstalk started.
Economists are warning against President Trump’s proposed tariffs, saying they would only hurt American consumers. Economic expert Katherine Rampel said Monday that it would be “bad news” for President Trump voters who thought prices would fall under a second administration.
“So in some ways it might not be unexpected for Americans who thought President Trump would lower prices. I have news,” Rampel said.
If implemented, the tariffs could significantly increase prices for U.S. consumers on everything from gasoline to cars to agricultural products. The United States is the world’s largest importer of goods, with Mexico, China and Canada as the top three suppliers, according to the latest U.S. Census data.
President Trump made the threat Monday in two posts on his Truth social site slamming the influx of illegal immigrants even as tensions at the southern border hover near four-year lows. .
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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