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Citadel CEO Ken Griffin sent a stern warning against the negative impact from President Donald Trump’s combative approach to U.S. trade policy.
“From my vantage point, the bombastic rhetoric, the damage has already been done,” Griffin said Tuesday at the UBS Financial Services Conference in Key Biscayne, Florida. “It’s a huge mistake to resort to this form of rhetoric when you’re trying to drive a bargain because … it tears into the minds of CEOs, policymakers that we can’t depend upon America, as our trading partner.”
The billionaire hedge fund founder’s comments came after Trump on Monday evening signed an order that would impose 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. The president has already enacted a 10% duty on all Chinese imports, while pausing his 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada temporarily.
Griffin, who voted for Trump and was a megadonor to Republican politicians, believes the hostile dynamics caused by punitive tariffs could make long-term investments challenging for multinational companies and investors.
“It makes it difficult for multinationals, in particular, to think about how to plan for the next five, 10, 15, 20 years, particularly when it comes to long lead time capital investments that could be adversely impacted by a degradation of the current terms of engagement as amongst the leading Western countries when it comes to terms and trade,” he said.
Griffin previously cautioned that crony capitalism could be a consequence of tariffs. Crony capitalism is an economic system marked by close, mutually advantageous relationships between business leaders and government officials.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.