“Shark Tank” co-star Kevin O’Leary said on Fox Business Thursday that the United States holds massive economic leverage over China and now is the time to use it.
The White House said Wednesday that tariffs on China will only be reduced through negotiations, despite President Donald Trump signaling a potential easing. During an appearance on “The Evening Edit,” O’Leary said that the U.S. should exploit its dominant consumer market to pressure China into complying with fair trade practices, enforcing intellectual property rules, and ending one-sided advantages that have persisted for years.
“Millions of people working in factories making stuff that aren’t going to a market. The largest market on earth is the U.S. Xi does not have to face an election. Trump does midterms, less than two years away,” O’Leary told host Elizabeth MacDonald. “So this is going to get resolved relatively quickly. He has to face every day a Chinese worker sitting there that’s making something and has got to sell it to somebody. The market’s not big enough if the U.S. is not buying this stuff.”
While acknowledging his admiration for the Chinese people and his desire to sell in China, O’Leary took direct aim at what he said were the Chinese government’s tactics.
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“I love the Chinese people. I want to do business there. But the government, there is a negotiation going on here. It’s a dance. We’re starting the dance. I don’t care how the sausage is made. I’m one of those guys that are saying, ‘Let’s solve everything, not just tariffs to China,’” O’Leary said. “China’s a different story than the rest of the world. I get what’s going on in Europe and in U.K. and in Switzerland and India. I got it. I don’t care about that. I want to solve the big kahuna problem, not just tariffs to China.”
O’Leary also listed core issues the U.S. must bring to the negotiating table, including forced IP transfers, unequal market access, and regulatory double standards.
“It’s time to level the playing field. I’ve been saying the same thing for weeks now. IP theft, access to their markets, delist their companies and don’t comply to the rules I have to comply to because of millions of dollars,” O’Leary said. “They don’t have to. Why do they get to do that? Why don’t we just get it on the table? I don’t care what they say. I know they’re talking because they don’t have a choice.”
With the EU also beginning to push back against China’s market saturation, O’Leary said that the U.S. remains the only economy large enough to force real concessions.
“We have to squeeze heads while we’re the largest economy on earth. That’s 39% of everything consumed and 26.1% of the world’s GDP. Squeeze while you can. Otherwise, you’ll never get this opportunity again. Squeeze now. And I don’t care about the volatility. I want this administration to solve this problem after 20 years,” O’Leary said. “None of them have solved it. Let’s get this done. And as far as the Trump derangement syndrome, I get it. Half the people don’t like it. I don’t even care about that anymore. It’s not about Trump. It’s about settling a huge problem with an economy that cheats and steals IP and wants to win by not paying for it.”
The U.S.–China trade war escalated rapidly after Trump’s April 2 tariff announcement that prompted retaliation from Beijing. Within days, Trump raised tariffs on Chinese imports from 104% to 125%, later increasing them to at least 145% to pressure China back to the negotiating table.
By mid-April, tariffs on some Chinese goods reached as high as 245% in response to China’s countermeasures. Trump also imposed 25% tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles and other imports, saying that rates would not return to zero due to past trade imbalances.
(Featured Image Media Credit: Screenshot/Fox Business)
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