Billionaire investor Mark Cuban endorsed targeted tariffs for strategic industries while criticizing across-the-board trade measures, citing concerns over small business impacts in Tuesday’s social media posts.
“I support tariffs that protect our strategic industries,” Cuban wrote on X, responding to user questions about his trade policy stance. “I think across the board tariffs are awful and they disproportionately and negatively impact small businesses.”
The Dallas Mavericks owner emphasized precision in trade policy, stating that strategic tariffs “make sense” while calling blanket measures “idiotic.” His comments come amid ongoing debate over President Donald Trump‘s trade policies affecting semiconductor giants.
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Cuban previously praised Trump’s 15% revenue-sharing agreement with Nvidia Corp. NVDA and Advanced Micro Devices Inc. AMD for China chip sales. He called it a “billionaire’s tax” that Democrats like Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez “dreamed of doing but never could.”
The deal requires both companies to pay 15% of their China revenues to obtain export licenses for advanced AI chips, including Nvidia’s H20 and AMD’s MI308 processors.
Goldman Sachs economists project consumer tariff burden will jump from 22% in June to 67% by October. Oxford Economics forecasts U.S. tariff rates exceeding 18% – the highest since the 1930s.
Cuban highlighted the administration’s failure to address small business impacts, calling it “a problem that needs to be solved.” His stance reflects growing concern among investors about trade policy effects on different business segments.
Kevin O’Leary criticized the Nvidia-AMD arrangement as “blackmail,” while economist Steve Eisman called Trump’s trade approach “very honorable.” The SPDR Gold Trust GLD rose 0.4% after Trump exempted gold from tariff considerations.
Wells Fargo economists warn that meaningful manufacturing job increases remain unlikely despite tariff protections, citing labor force shortages exceeding 14 million workers.
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