Bill Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, will speak in an interview on the episode of David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Conversations held in New York on November 28th, 2023.
Gina Moon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman said the US is heading towards self-harm as a result of President Donald Trump’s tariff policy development.
“By placing massive, disproportionate tariffs on our friends and enemies, and thereby launching a global economic war on the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying our country’s trust as a trading partner who supported Trump during the election.
Trump’s latest tariffs, signed on Wednesday, set a baseline collection of 10% on all imports, knocking over 180 countries and hitting global markets.
China faces the highest tariffs, with the Trump administration having 54% of its duties since January. Beijing retaliated with 34% tariff on all goods imported from the US
US stocks concluded a cruel week for investors that fell 9.08% last Friday, according to Factset data. Last week, JP Morgan raised the odds of the US and global recession to 60% by the end of the year, up from the previous 40%.
“Business is a game of confidence. The president has lost the trust of business leaders around the world,” Ackman says.
“The outcome of our country and millions of citizens who have supported the president, especially low-income consumers under enormous amounts of economic stress — will be extremely negative. This is not something we voted for,” the hedge fund manager said.
Trump has the opportunity to seek timeouts for negotiations to resolve “unfair” tariff transactions.
“Or alternatively, we are heading towards a self-induced economic core winter. We have to start walking,” he said.
In another tweet, Ackman took a potshot with U.S. Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. “When our economy collapses, he’s making money. It’s a bad idea for businesses to choose a secretary of commerce where they pay long bonds,” Ackman said, adding that it’s an “incompatible conflict of interest.”
On Sunday, Lutnick told CBS that the Trump administration will remain steady with mutual tariffs on its major trading partners, even in the face of a global stock loss.
The US Department of Commerce did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.
