Businessman Kevin O’Leary said he believes a forthcoming trade deal with the United States’ and China will serve as a model for other nations.
His Monday comments came hours after the world’s two largest economies agreed to lower tariffs on foreign imports for 90 days.
“And I think where we‘re going is a 10 in 10 reciprocal on everybody, call it a VAT tax,” he added.
Under the current agreement, the U.S. dropped its baseline tariff rate on Chinese goods from 145 percent to 30 percent while Beijing scaled back its 125 percent duty to 10 percent.
O’Leary applauded Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent for navigating trade discussions while lauding the tariffs as a “consumption tax.”
“But you can‘t sell that to Congress, so you call it a tariff,” the executive added.
However, members of Congress, business owners and China’s leaders have said the sweeping tariff measures are illegal.
On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of International Trade heard two-hour arguments for and against President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.
The three-judge panel has yet to rule on the Trump administration’s ability to enforce fluctuating trade policies without approval from Congress.
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