Hedgo Hedge Honcho Bill ACKMAN joined the list of supporters of President Donald Trump who continued to call the White House to slam the brakes at a rate of only a few hours before Trump passed the 90 -day break on the reciprocal tariff for most countries that came into force Wednesday morning.
Ackman descended to social media Wednesday morning, asking Trump to make a 90 day break on tariffs, on the grounds that the president could “achieve his goals without destroying small businesses in the short term.”
In a long post on X, Ackman, founder of Pershing Square Capital Management, issued a terrible warning about what could happen if the tariff was not immediately stopped.
“If the president does not stop immediate tariff effects, many small businesses will go bankrupt,” ACKMAN wrote. “A medium -sized business will be the next.”
Ackman joined other billionaires, including some like him who supported Trump’s campaign for the re -election, in changing the cold shoulder to an increase in the tariff war. Trump claims the tariff is needed to level the play field for US importers, saying, “The practice of foreign and economic trade has created a national emergency.”
NEW YORK, NY – June 17: Bill Ackman Speaking at Dinner Public Square Foundation 2024 Prize at Park Avenue Armory at Park Avenue Armory on June 17, 2024 in New York City. (Photo by Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images)
Jared Siskin/Patrick McMullan Via Getty Image
It is not clear whether the pushback of his billionaire supporters pushed Trump to make a pause.
Other Mogul Billioner-Investors and Generous Stanley Druckenmiller, owner of Citdel Kenneth Griffin and even Tesla CEO Elon Musk, the President’s senior advisor-has spoken to opposing Trump’s tariff after supporting the president’s re-election campaign.
Speaking at an event in Miami on Monday night, Griffin called Trump’s tariff “a big policy error,” according to The Wall Street Journal. Seldom Social media posting On Sunday, Druckenmiller wrote, “I do not support the tariff exceeding 10%.”
Musk has openly condemned senior trade advisor Trump Trump Peter Navarro, one of the architects of Trump’s tariff policy, called it “really stupid” and “stupid than a brick” after Navarro described it as “car assembler.” In a direct speech to the Italian League Congress conference in Florence, Italy, on Saturday, Musk expressed hope for the US and Europe to create “very close, stronger partnership” and achieve the “zero-tariff” policy immediately.
10% tariffs on all US trading partners come into force on Saturday. Additional reciprocity tariffs on more than 60 countries that put duties on US imports come into force at 12:01 ET on Wednesday. But on Wednesday afternoon, Trump quit the reciprocal rate in most countries about 13 hours after they came into force and eight days after he announced it at the White House press conference.
Pauses will not apply to China, because government officials do not want to make an agreement, according to Minister of Finance Scott Bessent.
Trump has raised the tariff in China to 104% after China refused to resign from imposing a 34% tariff on US goods. On Wednesday, China responded by boosting US product tariffs up to 84%, encouraging Trump to handle an additional 21%, carrying China tariffs to 125%.
European Union countries on Wednesday supported the European Commission’s proposal to push back Trump tariffs on steel and aluminum with a series of countermeasures.
Ackman spoke against the tariff, saying he “received more e -mail and text from a small businessman that I did business or investing, stating fear that they would not be able to continue to increase their costs to their customers and would suffer enormous negative consequences.”
In his post on Wednesday, Ackman shared an email from the founder of the Cold Brew Coffee Business which he said he received before China announced the retaliation rate. The founder of Cold Brew Coffee said the cost for glass bottles sourced from China would rise 50%, while Chai sourced from India would increase by 26%and coffee imported from Ethiopia, Peru and Canada would rise 10%.
“Will my client tolerate double the cost of their contract overnight, or will they expect me to absorb the increase that has been threatened by my vendor?” Business owners write in an email to Ackman. “If the client refuses to increase prices and my employees demand a higher wage to compensate for the increase in their living costs, we end up in the defeat scenario and there is no expenditure and there is no work.”
Ackman ended his post by writing, “May Head who won a cooler.”
Following Trump’s announcement that he quit the tariffs in most countries, Ackman issued a series of new posts in X, including those who said, “This was executed brilliantly by @realdonald Trump. Texbook, the art of agreement.”
“The benefit of the @realdonaldtrump approach is that we now understand who our choice of trading partners is, and who the problem is. China has shown themselves as bad actor,” Ackman said in a post. “Our colleagues also feel what life is like if they don’t eliminate their trading barriers.”
Ackman added, “This is a perfect arrangement for trade negotiations for the next 90 days” and he offers advice to China: “Take a telephone and contact the president. He is a formidable but fair negotiator. The longer China survives and reply, the worse the results for China.”