China could be 'virtually screwed' in tariff negotiations, Kevin O'Leary warns
"Shark Tank" investor Kevin O’Leary is taking another big bite at China over its tariff negotiation reluctance, warning they could be "virtually screwed" in a stalemate.
"The big behemoth story we've been talking about so much is China. We've got to figure out where they sit in trying to come into the narrative," O’Leary said on "Varney & Co." Monday.
"Even though I want 400% [tariffs], but that's just bombastic, 100-plus percent wipes out all trade," he continued. "Xi [Jinping], at some point, has to take the olive branch that's been offered twice over the weekend by Trump."
‘NECESSARY’ OR ‘BULLYING OUR FRIENDS?’ AMERICANS DIFFER STARKLY ON TRUMP TARIFFS
Customs and Border Protection issued new guidance on reciprocal tariff negotiations late Friday, noting the exemption of those goods from President Donald Trump’s April 2 executive order that declared a national emergency due to non-reciprocal trade practices and structural imbalances in the global trading system.
Subsequent executive orders ramped up tariffs on China to 125%, but the administration has since exempted imported smartphones, laptops and other electronics from reciprocal tariffs.
O’Leary has previously been outspoken about his belief that China should get hit hardest by Trump’s tariff war, and has explained that selling their U.S. Treasury securities won’t help them in the conflict.
China indeed holds a significant amount of Treasury securities, with $760 billion worth of holdings, Reuters reported.
"[Xi Jinping] doesn't have the option to sell T-bills. People keep saying, 'Oh, he's going to be disruptive by selling T- bills.' That will enhance the price of his currency and make his products even less competitive worldwide. That will devastate his economy, which is already on the brink," the millionaire entrepreneur explained.
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"He doesn't have that leverage. That's just pure economics," O’Leary added. "If you start stumping T-bills, dollar goes down. His currency goes up and he's virtually screwed. So we're in a real stalemate right here. We really are, we got some problems."
America allegedly holds the heavy-duty cards against China, he concluded: "All that stuff that's made in the factories, almost 39% of it's consumed by Americans. If [Jinping] can't sell the stuff, those people don't have jobs. And that's gonna be a bad outcome for him, really bad outcome, and he knows it. That is the one massive leverage that we have at the table."
Fox News’ Greg Wehner contributed to this report.