Mark Cuban Hits Trump For Putting Companies ‘Underneath A Hammer’ With Tariff Proposal

Mark Cuban slammed former President Donald Trump on Thursday over tariffs he proposed for John Deere ought to he win the election.

Trump, who has beforehand pledged to impose tariffs on foreign-made products from China and different nations in a proposal that several economists have warned about, threatened the agricultural tools firm Monday with a 200% tariff if it strikes a few of its manufacturing within the U.S. to Mexico.

“Donald Trump is attempting to come back in with a hammer and say, ‘You’re the nail, I’m gonna hit you with a 200% tariff, John Deere,’” stated the “Shark Tank” investor and billionaire in an look on CNBC’s “Squawk Field.”

He continued, “Kamala Harris is saying, ’I’m gonna offer you incentives to fabricate extra. Which do you suppose is gonna work higher with firms? Do you wanna be beneath a hammer?”

His feedback arrive months after Fox Enterprise Community reported that John Deere laid off hundreds of employees at plants in Illinois and Iowa. The corporate additionally introduced that it was shifting manufacturing of skid steer loaders and compact observe loaders to Mexico by the top of 2026.

A spokesperson for the corporate, in response to Trump’s risk, noted in an email to The Gazette that underneath 5% of its U.S. gross sales are manufactured in Mexico whereas 75% of U.S. gross sales stem from American services.

John Deere isn’t “shifting manufacturing to Mexico as continues to be reported,” the spokesperson stated, and the corporate has as an alternative “strategically leveraged our footprint in Mexico for cab manufacturing.”

Cuban, who has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and has referred to her as “pro-business,” wrote on social media earlier this week that imposing a 200% tariff on John Deere could be “insane.”

“Good technique to destroy a legendary American firm and enhance prices to American consumers,” Cuban wrote in response to a clip of Trump’s feedback.

Cuban, in his “Squawk Field” look, warned of what may occur if Trump wins and places such a tariff on John Deere.

“While you put a 200% tariff on John Deere after which solely a 10-20% tariff on their Chinese language rivals, their Chinese language rivals are actually cheaper than John Deere,” stated Cuban of Trump, who has falsely claimed that tariffs don’t “have an effect on our nation.”

The billionaire, in an interview with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on Wednesday, questioned why Trump has the “notion of being good on the economic system.”

“I imply, he’s an excellent salesperson, ? He talks an excellent recreation, but it surely doesn’t imply he follows by means of or will get the job performed,” Cuban stated.