Kevin O'Leary Backs Trump's Tariff Strategy: Calls It a 'Value-Added Tax,' Says He Can Be 'Very Pragmatic'

Investor and television personality Kevin O’Leary, AKA “Mr. Wonderful,” came out in defense of President Donald Trump’s trade and tariff policies, framing them as a strategic response to global trade imbalances.

What Happened: Speaking on the Impact Theory podcast on Wednesday, O’Leary explained that many of America's trade partners, including Canada and the European Union, already impose consumption taxes on U.S. goods through VAT systems.

“Most of these countries have a VAT tax, a value-added tax, which is a tax that is a consumption tax at the consumer level,” he said.

See Also: Trump Tariffs Hurt US Chocolate Makers, Give Edge To Canada, Mexico: Report

In O'Leary's view, Trump sees this as a de facto tariff and has since responded with his own. “There's no American VAT tax. However, what Trump has done is exactly that, and he's called it something else,” referring to the new base tariffs that are set to be imposed on all countries.

“He calls this a tariff. The Europeans and the Canadians call theirs VAT. Who cares what it's called? It's a tax.” he says.

While O’Leary acknowledges Trump’s bombastic public persona, referring to him as “a walking press conference,” he also emphasized his effectiveness in applying pressure through trade policy. “Trump can be very pragmatic at times," he says.

He also says that if tariffs are applied reciprocally and stay around the 10% range, “the economies can live with” that outcome. “Trump put his VAT tax in place. Everything's equal. Even Steven, so to speak,” he says.

Why It Matters: Earlier in the week, O’Leary said during his appearance on Fox Business that the “tariff drama” is “settling” and the markets are “calming” as Trump had found the loophole to impose a value-added tax.

He said, “as long as the numbers are reasonable,” that is, they range from 10% to 15%, then industry will adapt. “The market wants a headline number.”

Wall Street analysts such as Goldman’s Jan Hatzius have since echoed similar views, saying that tariff-driven inflation was likely to be a “one-time price level shift akin to a VAT hike,” rather than a prolonged issue.

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