Kevin O'Leary says he doesn't think the Trump administration is 'stupid,' expects tariffs to be removed
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- Kevin O'Leary said he believes President Donald Trump will drop his reciprocal tariffs eventually.
- "I believe in economics driving everything at the end of the day," O'Leary said.
- Trump's reciprocal tariffs will take effect on April 9.
"Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary said on Monday that he believes the Trump administration will eventually remove the sweeping tariffs it announced on over 180 countries last week.
"I believe in economics driving everything at the end of the day, and I don't think the Trump administration is stupid," O'Leary said in an interview with Fox Business on Monday.
"They know they've gotta start negotiating deals and show the world what the outcome of this is gonna be," O'Leary added.
President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on 185 countries on Wednesday, or what he called "Liberation Day." The tariffs, which start at a baseline rate of 10%, affect the US's rivals and major allies in Europe and Asia.
Trump's tariffs have sparked panic among investors and triggered a huge sell-off in the stock market. The S&P 500 is down by nearly 14% year to date, while the Nasdaq Composite is down 19% year to date.
O'Leary, however, believes that countries will soon come forward to negotiate with the US.
"You have got two pieces to this negotiation. One, is remove all tariffs. I'm 100% for that. But I don't care; pick your Vietnam, Israel, India, Euro, Canadians. Whatever you want. Everybody's willing to cut a deal to zero tariffs both ways as part of a package," O'Leary said.
The second piece to the negotiation is the "trade deficit punitive aspect," O'Leary told Fox Business.
O'Leary cited his greeting card company, Lovepop, which makes its cards in Vietnam.
"Lovepop greeting cards are made in Vietnam and they are shipped every day from there, and it's all American equipment invested there. Our money, American money invested there," O'Leary said. "So we are gonna have to work that out, and the government there wants to work it out."
O'Leary has previously said that Trump's tariffs should be viewed as part of a larger negotiating strategy.
Last month, O'Leary told Yahoo Finance that people should think of tariffs as "negotiating tools of economic warfare."
"I'm in the camp that says Trump doesn't want to trash the market indefinitely. What he wants to do is use his first 24 months, his majority mandate before the midterms, to drive home a flat reciprocal environment for trade worldwide," O'Leary told Yahoo Finance.
"And then he comes into the midterms with that achieved, because you can achieve that in two years, and that supports his party maintaining a slight majority, which I think is a good strategy," O'Leary continued.
Trump's reciprocal tariffs will take effect on April 9. The European Union was hit with a 20% tariff, India with a 26% tariff, and China with a 34% tariff. China's total tariff is now 54%, accounting for the 20% tariff Trump imposed on China last month.
Some countries, such as Japan and Vietnam, have since contacted the Trump administration to negotiate. China, on the other hand, said it would "fight to the end" after Trump threatened to raise tariffs by 50%.
Business leaders, from hedge fund manager Bill Ackman to JPMorgan's CEO Jamie Dimon, have criticized Trump's tariffs.
"The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession," Dimon wrote in a letter to JPMorgan's shareholders released Monday.
Representatives for O'Leary and the White House did not respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.