A star investor on the hit ABC show "Shark Tank" sparred with an economics columnist Wednesday night on CNN during a heated debate over tariffs and opposing economic plans from Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
Businessman Kevin O'Leary squared off against Washington Post columnist Catherine Rampell on "NewsNight" after Rampell asked why Trump continues to propose levying tariffs on other nations including China.
In response, O'Leary accused China of "screwing" his 45 businesses for more than three decades — and said he "likes the idea of going to war with China with tariffs to change behavior."
As Rampell shot back that the tariffs didn't change the Chinese government's behavior, O'Leary insisted it was "weak leadership" from President Joe Biden and the Clintons who wanted to "democratize" the country.
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"It's time to raise tariffs on China to 400 percent," he declared. As Rampell pointed out Trump already raised tariffs on the country, he insisted, "Not enough."
As Rampell said studies show U.S. companies and consumers bore the costs of those moves, a fed-up O'Leary proclaimed: "I love the academic study. I'm doing real business in China! I'm actually doing business there. I'm actually working there. There's no academics in my companies."
Rampell refused to back down, and demanded to know, "Where do you think they buy their inputs from? From China! It hurts Americans."
"Let me explain something to you," said O'Leary. "The Chinese steal my IP. They make the same product with the molds that I pay for there. They ship them into this country under a different brand. I don't like it anymore and I've been trying to solve this for 30 years."
Rampell pushed back again, noting that a 60% tariff on China would mean Americans pay more for what they purchase.
"No. You're wrong," said O'Leary, who insisted that Americans would simply no longer buy products from China with such a tariff.
Watch the full clip below or at this link.