Former President Donald Trump has proposed a slate of intense tariffs that could hit US companies if he’s elected in November, and billionaire investor Mark Cuban has some thoughts.
“Trump has a new tax cut or tariff for every city he visits. Even when it violates his own signed policies or the law,” Cuban wrote in an X post on Tuesday.
Cuban was criticizing Trump’s economic policies while defending Vice President Kamala Harris’ campaign during an exchange with X user @AndySwan.
“I tell you what I know from my conversations. Her campaign actually thinks through proposals before she says them,” Cuban said of Harris’ team.
To be sure, Cuban has been a vocal supporter of Harris. In addition to backing her economic agenda, the “Shark Tank” star has also lauded Harris for being pro-business.
During a September 5 CNBC interview, he also praised Harris for helping entrepreneurs access investments and for making it easier for startups to get off the ground.
Cuban’s not a fan of Trump’s tariffs
This week, Cuban has been zeroing in on Trump’s proposed tariffs and other economic proposals.
On Monday, Cuban slammed Trump’s call for a 200% tariff on agriculture equipment company John Deere, calling it “insane” and a “good way to destroy a legendary American company.”
At a Monday policy roundtable in Pennsylvania, Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on everything John Deere makes in Mexico but sells into the United States. The former president was responding to John Deere’s plan to move part of their manufacturing process to Mexico by the end of 2026.
“Put a 200% tariff on the American company moving some production to Mexico,” Cuban wrote on X. “But tariff Chinese manufacturers 10 or 20%, so that the Chinese products will be cheaper to sell in the US than the American company.”
To Cuban’s point, Trump has brought up tariffs at multiple campaign stops.
On Tuesday, Trump outlined another aspect of his manufacturing plan at a campaign event in Georgia — this time, involving US automakers. Trump said that if elected, he plans to impose a 100% tariff on every car made in Mexico.
“With the vision I’m outlining today, not only will we stop our businesses from leaving for foreign lands, but under my leadership, we’re going to take other countries’ jobs,” Trump told rally goers.
Separately, Trump has also floated the idea of temporarily capping credit card interest rates at around 10% during a rally in New York last week. Notably, Trump’s proposal goes further than the 15% cap that Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont had proposed back in May 2019.
All in all, Trump’s actions, Cuban says, make him look more like a Marxist than Harris. Trump and his supporters have often accused Harris of being a Communist.
“Who has proposed price controls? Trump. Who has proposed a tariff tax on all imports because he doesn’t understand them? Trump. Who has said he would punish companies that produced in Mexico, despite his policy, USMCA, allowing it? Proving he doesn’t know his own policies? Trump,” Cuban wrote in a Tuesday X post.
“He is far more of a Marxist than she ever could be. He just doesn’t know it yet,” Cuban added.
Cuban and representatives for the Trump campaign didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment sent outside regular business hours.
