Billionaire Richard Branson's take on Trump's 'erratic' and 'catastrophic' tariffs
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- Richard Branson criticized Donald Trump's tariffs, calling them "erratic."
- Trump's levies have led to global trade uncertainty and retaliatory measures from other countries.
- Branson said it's time to call tariff changes a "colossal mistake and change course."
Virgin Group founder Richard Branson slammed President Donald Trump's tariff policies this week.
The 74-year-old billionaire said Trump's recent economic changes are "erratic and unpredictable" and ultimately bad for business as a taxation war rages on between the US and pretty much everyone else.
Global trade has been roiled since Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs on April 2 set off a chain of events, including retaliatory levies from countries like China and chaotic financial markets.
"If he continues, he's in such danger of doing so much damage in this world," Branson, referring to Trump, told UK news outlets on Tuesday ahead of a Virgin Atlantic Airways launch event for its new route to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
He added, "It's just such a pity because everything was going so bloody well up to about three months ago."
From trillion-dollar giants to small businesses, Trump's tariff orders have led to CEOs evaluating their expenses and prices to try to mitigate the effects. On April 9, he announced a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs that could eventually put a 40% or more rate on imported goods from some countries. Leaders have said they're still unsure what comes next.
Virgin Group, Branson's venture capital conglomerate, owns stakes across industries, most notably in travel and entertainment. Branson posted a thread to X a few days after Trump's Liberation Day, calling the market's negative response to tariffs "predictable and preventable."
"Even if you agree with the premise of these tariffs, every reasonable effort should be made to give US companies sufficient and reasonable time to adapt," the British investor said on X.
The results for the average American will be "catastrophic," Branson said in a follow-up post on April 7, saying the rest of the world would suffer as well as the flurry of tariff attacks continue.
"This is the moment to own up to a colossal mistake and change course. Otherwise, America will face ruin for years to come," Branson said.