Canadian entrepreneur and Shark Tank personality Kevin O’Leary called for “400%” tariffs on China to force Beijing to the negotiating table while shredding the regime for stealing U.S. intellectual property and selling it back.
President Donald Trump floated a 10% tariff on Chinese imports in January, but fewer than three months later, that rate has skyrocketed to 104% in an escalation condemned by Beijing, who hit back with a retaliatory 34% tariff on U.S. goods — and launching a full-throated war of words alongside the economic one.
Appearing on CNN’s Laura Coates Live, O’Leary, a staunch Trump supporter, called for the president to ramp up the pressure to bring China to the table:
104% tariffs on China are not enough. I’m advocating 400%.
I do business in China. They don’t play by the rules. They’ve been in the WTO for decades, they have never abided by any of the rules they agreed to when they came in. For decades. They cheat, they steal, they steal IP. I can’t litigate in their courts. They take product technology, they steal it, they manufacture it and sell it back here.
“400% tariffs?” host Laura Coates asked in disbelief.
In reply, O’Leary doubled down, arguing that the tariffs were not about trade but about U.S. dominance:
I want [President] Xi [Jinping] on an airplane to Washington to level the playing field. This is not about tariffs anymore. Nobody has taken on China yet. Not the Europeans. No administration for decades. As someone who actually does business there, I’ve had enough. I speak for millions of Americans who have ip that have been stolen by the Chinese. I have nothing against the Chinese people. They brought great literacy, art and tech to the world. The government cheats and steals and finally an administration — you may not like Trump, you may not like his style or his rhetoric — finally, an administration that puts up and says ‘Enough! 400% tariffs tomorrow morning!’
I’ll tell you why. Xi can only stay the Supreme Leader if people are employed. If we wipe out any business there because we are still 39% of all consumables on Earth and 25% of the world’s GDP. America is the number one economy on Earth with all the cards. We will not have that forever. It’s time to squeeze Chinese heads into the wall now!
Watch above via CNN.