Since Donald Trump won the 2024 U.S. presidential election, many tech sector leaders have rushed to show him loyalty and curry favor. This created an opportunity for one member of their elite club to carve out a niche for himself as a billionaire with progressive priorities.
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Mark Cuban is best known for his time as a judge on Shark Tank and owner of the National Basketball Associationâs (NBA) Dallas Mavericks. But before holding either of those roles, he founded and sold multiple successful tech companies, earning him a spot among the industryâs leaders.
But recently, Cuban has differentiated himself from fellow tech moguls â including Tesla (TSLA)  CEO Elon Musk and Mark Zuckerberg of Meta Platforms (META)  âvoicing criticisms of Trump and his policies, despite initially supporting him.
This week, Cuban took to social media to make it clear where he stands on Trumpâs tariff policies and the current trade war, laying out an unexpected take.
Since Trump returned to the White House on January 20, many people in the U.S. and beyond have waited anxiously for updates on his promised tariffs. These import taxes stand to have significant repercussions, as and most of the world knows who remembers the trade war from Trumpâs first term.
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Cuban certainly seems to remember, which may be informing his take on the trade war and how it should be handled. On February 1, he posted on Bluesky, âIâm going to put my rich guy hat on and say I hope that Mexico and Canada issue equal, retaliatory tariffs and stick to them for an extended period.â
In the same post, Cuban acknowledged that such a measure would indeed negatively impact many people, but stressed the importance of seeing the bigger picture. âItâs the only way for tariffs to be seen for what they are,â he added.
As part of the thread, Cuban commented and predicted that despite what he hoped would happen, both countries would likely follow Colombiaâs example and quickly reach an agreement with Trump, enabling him to claim victory despite little change.
This forecast has since proven correct. Three days later, both Canada and Mexico have reached agreements with Trump to pause the tariffs if they increase their border security.
Months later, now that Trump is actually implementing the tariffs he promised during the recent campaign, it is clear that Cubanâs stance on tariffs hasnât changed. But his recent statements raise an important question: how exactly does he view tariffs?
A quick look into Cubanâs history shows exactly what he thinks.
In September 2024, Trump threatened to levy a 200% tariff against John Deere DE if the farm equipment manufacturer moved its operations to Mexico. Cuban quickly hit back in a social media post, calling Trump out for his lack of business understanding.
As he highlighted, imposing higher tariffs on a prominent U.S. manufacturer than its Chinese rivals did would likely lead to products from John Deereâs competitors being sold in the U.S. for less.
âGood way to destroy a legendary American company and increase costs to American buyers,â he noted, adding that there is substantial evidence that tariffs are inflationary.
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Other expats have also argued that Trumpâs tariffs are likely to lead to higher inflation. Laurence Ales, professor of economics at the Tepper School of Business at Carnegie Mellon University, recently discussed the rising prices the U.S. is currently experiencing.
âThis inflationary pressure reduces consumersâ purchasing power, as their income does not stretch as far as it did before the price increases,â he stated. âIn the long run, sustained higher inflation can erode savings and reduce the standard of living for households.â
While most Americans will likely be forced to pay more under Trumpâs tariffs, the wealthy stand to benefit. Simon Johnson, a 2024 Nobel laureate in economics, has described them as a âgift to the rich,â as they stand to lose substantially less.
If thatâs true, Cuban could also likely benefit from Trumpâs tariffs. But he has made it clear that he believes it is more important for these policies to be seen for what they are: an effective way to harm American companies and drive up inflation, ultimately harming the U.S. economy.
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