“Shark Tank” investor Kevin O’Leary defended President Donald Trump’s tariffs against China, saying some “volatility” is worth it to solve America’s long-term decline.
The tariff tit-for-tat between the U.S. and China escalated again Wednesday, with President Donald Trump saying that he is immediately raising the tariffs on Chinese goods over Beijing’s “lack of respect” toward America, while pausing and lowering reciprocal tariffs on other countries.
MSNBC’s José Díaz-Balart noted that the tariff, rather than 125% as previously reported, now appears to be 145%, and asked the famous investor for his thoughts.
“I’ve been an advocate for raising it to 400% in one move to force [President Xi Jinping] to the table, because this narrative with China is not just about tariffs,” O’Leary replied. “Since China joined the WTO [World Trade Organization] in 2020 — or it’s actually 2000 — they have not abided by the rules in any single year. There is no way you can figure out or settle a trade dispute with them. Although they said they’d agree to do that, they never did.”
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O’Leary went on to note he had testified in Washington about this issue of imbalance between America and China, essentially telling U.S. lawmakers, “I’ve had enough, and I expect you, lawmakers and the administration to finally go to task and settle this once and for all, because I don’t care if it’s 1,000% tariffs. They have to come to the table now and not just settle this trade war. They need to settle all of this unbalanced situation.”
The investor made clear that he bodes no ill will for the Chinese as a people, noting their millennia of history, but that the government ruling them is the problem.
“They cheat, they steal, they don’t play by the rules. And I’ve had enough. And so I would like this thing worked out. I don’t care about the volatility. I don’t care if Trump ratchets it up 25% a day,” he said.
“What do you mean you don’t care about volatility, if volatility has a direct impact on us as the consumers?” Díaz-Balart interjected.
“Because we have to fix this problem once and for all. It’s killing us,” O’Leary said. “It’s killing small business in America. It’s killing large businesses. All the IP these guys steal. You go back and look at all of their technological advancements, and this is my personal estimation, you’re going to find source code from American companies back four decades ago.”
“These guys don’t play by the rules and administration after administration, whether it be European or American, have not dealt with this,” he continued. “It’s enough. We’ve got to solve this problem. Now if we have to squeeze Chinese heads to the wall, as I said yesterday when I was testifying, so be it. I’m willing to live with the volatility to get the long situation settled.”
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O’Leary argued that while China has an authoritarian regime, its leadership can be pressured by tens of thousands of its own people suddenly being unemployed and angry at their government because of the lack of business in America.
“China needs the United States of America. We have the upper hand right now. We have the cards,” O’Leary said, touting America as the largest consumer market on Earth. “Now is the time to settle this, because we may not be the largest economy forever, but right now we can squeeze Chinese — and I’m talking about the government, not the people — to comply with the laws and get a level playing field between China and the United States of America. If it takes a little volatility, a little indigestion, a little acid reflux, I don’t care.”
He illustrated one example of how China exploits the American market.
“I want this thing worked out now because I can show you countless occurrences of where I have backed, as an investor, a company that gets to $5 million in sales with a consumer good or service on Amazon, on Alibaba, and then as soon as it hits $5 million, it’s knocked off,” O’Leary said. “They steal the IP, they manufacture it there, they sell it back into this market. I’m not okay with it. I’m not okay with that anymore.”
O’Leary clarified that while he is not calling for regime change, Chinese President Xi must be forced to come to the table.
“Let’s squeeze and squeeze and squeeze them!” O’Leary suggested. “Just keep going and going until they start to comply.”
FOX Business’ Stephen Sorace contributed to this report.
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