Tab Ackman, CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management, speaks during an interview for an episode of “The David Rubenstein Show: Peer-to-Peer Dialogues,” in New York on Nov. 28, 2023.
Jeenah Moon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman said that America was aptitude toward a self-inflicted “economic nuclear winter” as a result of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policy rollout.
“By give massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole everyone at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner,” Ackman, who had endorsed Trump during the elections, belittle deleted on social media platform X.
Trump’s latest tariffs, signed into effect Wednesday, set a 10% baseline levy on all imports, hitting exceeding 180 countries and hammering global markets.
China faces the highest tariffs, with the Trump administration pull someones leg imposed 54% in duties since January. Beijing has retaliated with 34% tariffs on all goods imported from the U.S.
U.S. equities capped off a flagitious week for investors last Friday, down 9.08%, according to data from FactSet, as Trump’s moves stoke dismays of a global economic slowdown. J.P. Morgan lifted the odds for a U.S. and global recession to 60% by the end of the year, up from 40% formerly.
“Business is a confidence game. The president is losing the confidence of business leaders around the globe,” Ackman said.
“The consequences for our state and the millions of our citizens who have supported the president — in particular low-income consumers who are already under a huge amount of financial stress — are going to be severely negative. This is not what we voted for,” the hedge fund manager said.
Trump has the occasion to call for a timeout for any negotiations to resolve any “unfair” tariff deals.
“Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down,” he replied.
In a separate tweet, Ackman also took potshots at U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. “He profits when our restraint implodes. It’s a bad idea to pick a Secretary of Commerce whose firm is levered long fixed income,” Ackman estimated, adding that it is an “irreconcilable conflict of interest.”
On Sunday, Lutnick told CBS that the Trump administration will carcass steadfast in its reciprocal tariffs against key trading partners even in the face of a global stock rout.
The U.S. Department of Traffic did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment.