Kevin O’Leary Urges Trump to Impose 400% Tariff on Chinese Goods

Canadian businessman and investor Kevin O’Leary urged the Trump administration to impose a 400% tariff on Chinese goods, arguing that the current 104% tariff is insufficient to compel China to follow trade rules. O’Leary said these statements prior to U.S. President Donald Trump pausing some tariffs for 90 days on Wednesday afternoon.

Canadian businessman and investor Kevin O'Leary has urged the Trump administration to impose a 400% tariff on Chinese goods in order to force China to abide by trade rules.

O'Leary, who said he does business in China, argued the Trump administration’s 104% tariffs are insufficient to bring Chinese President Xi Jinping to the negotiating table.

Appearing on a CNN panel, O’Leary, a judge on the American business reality television series Shark Tank, said a 400% tariff would devastate the Chinese economy, causing widespread unemployment and potentially leading to Xi’s removal.

“Xi can only remain the supreme leader if people are employed. If we wipe out any business there, because we are still 39% of all consumables on Earth, 25% of the world’s GDP, America is the No. 1 economy in the world with all the cards… It’s time to squeeze the Chinese heads into the wall now,” O’Leary said.

O’Leary cited China’s alleged refusal to follow trade rules, intellectual property (IP) theft and a biased judicial system as justification for his proposal. He also repeated allegations that China steals technology from U.S. companies to produce goods for export to the U.S.

While many U.S. entrepreneurs complain about China’s failure to do more to combat alleged IP and technology theft, Beijing maintains it abides by the rules. In a statement regarding the dispute with the U.S., China said it has “adopted multiple measures to protect business secrets and pharmaceutical intellectual property.” It also said it has taken steps to punish cyber infringement and strengthen intellectual property law enforcement.

Regarding allegations of forced technology transfer, China said it encourages and respects voluntary technology transfer and licensing between Chinese and foreign enterprises. However, China said its interpretation of forced technology transfer and that of the U.S. are not aligned.

“The U.S. side has described it as ‘forced technology transfer’ when foreign-invested ventures and Chinese enterprises contract voluntarily to seek technological cooperation and share commercial returns from the Chinese market. That does not tally with reality on the ground,” China said.

However, O'Leary told stunned CNN panelists he supports U.S. President Donald Trump’s “bold move” to address China’s trade malpractices. He said millions of Americans whose IP was allegedly stolen by China agree with his call for increased pressure on the Asian nation.