Trump tariffs are ‘economic nuclear war,’ risk alienating investors, Ackman says

Investing.com-- U.S. President Donald Trump risks destroying confidence in the U.S. economy and alienating investors in the country, billionaire investor Bill Ackman said on Sunday, stating that the President was embarking on an “economic nuclear war.” 

Ackman warned that while Trump’s tariffs did highlight unfair trading conditions for the U.S., by launching such steep duties, Trump threatened to alienate U.S. allies and spark global economic disruptions. 

“By placing massive and disproportionate tariffs on our friends and our enemies alike and thereby launching a global economic war against the whole world at once, we are in the process of destroying confidence in our country as a trading partner, as a place to do business, and as a market to invest capital,” Ackman wrote in a social media post. 

Ackman, who is the founder of major hedge fund Pershing Square, said that Trump had the opportunity to call a 90-day time out and negotiate with other countries and hammer out trade deals and inviting more investment in the U.S.

But if Trump were to proceed with his reciprocal tariffs- which go as high as 54% for China, “business investment will grind to a halt, consumers will close their wallets and pocket books, and we will severely damage our reputation with the rest of the world that will take years and potentially decades to rehabilitate,” Ackman said. 

He warned of widespread impacts from Trump’s tariffs, on large to small companies, while customers also stood to be impacted by the tariffs. 

“The President has an opportunity on Monday to call a time out and have the time to execute on fixing an unfair tariff system. Alternatively, we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter, and we should start hunkering down,” Ackman said. 

In another post, Ackman also called out what he saw as a conflict of interest for U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, claiming that he and Cantor Fitzgerald- Lutnick’s firm- were long on U.S. bonds, and stood to benefit from heightened economic difficulties.

Ackman also said that he was long on U.S. markets. 

Trump over the weekend appeared to have doubled down on his tariffs, stating that no exceptions or forgiveness would be allowed until the U.S. had fixed its trade deficit with major global economies. 

Trump had last week unveiled sweeping reciprocal tariffs against several major economies, drawing ire and threats of retaliation from across the globe.

Global financial markets were rattled by Trump’s tariffs plans, with global equities seen wiping out at least $4 trillion since last week.