CNBC’s Anchor Jim Cramer reiterated his support for President Trump’s tariffs and strongly criticized free trade policies on Thursday, doubled his long opposition to agreements that have enjoyed decades of support from the US business and financial executives.
“I’m pro-tariff, absolutely. I hate free trade,” Cramer said during a Squawk on the street “of CNBC on Thursday.
He added: “I think it has been an embarrassment for our country. It costs us wealth. Everybody chooses us. There is no end for it.”
Cramer’s pronounced remarks follow Trump’s announcement on Wednesday that he intends to impose a 25% fee for imported automobiles and specific parts of the vehicle.
Next week, the president is also expected to introduce additional tariffs, labeled as “reciprocal tariffs”, which are expected to be somewhat softer than previously anticipated.
Since his return to the White House in January, Trump has already increased tariffs significantly for imports from China, Mexico and Canada.
Trump has approved tariffs as he pledged to do during the presidential campaign.
But Wall Street has responded negatively to the unpredictable and changing strategy of the President’s trade, which has created concerns within the business sector and among consumers.
This uncertainty has contributed significantly to the volatility of the stock market, with sharp sales that occur in recent weeks due to concerns about the economy and international trade.
However, the S&P 500 index has been somewhat recovered by its discounts earlier this month and has shown modest profits during Thursday’s trading session.
Cramer has long expressed skepticism about free trade, openly supporting previous Trump tariff policies aimed at China – an attitude he held since Trump’s successful candidacy for president in 2016.
At the end of 2019, Cramer pointed out: “If we are going to trade work on free things, at least we should get a good exchange rate.”
However, Cramer has also expressed reservations about certain elements of current Trump trade policies, especially emphasizing the damage that fee uncertainty has caused in stock markets.
Cramer recently suggested in a column for CNBC investment club members that tariffs could be more effective if they were applied in a target, strategic way than to be widely imposed.
Reflecting further during his CNBC segment on Thursday, Cramer accepted his personal benefit from globalization, citing his past experiences in Goldman Sachs and as a defense fund manager before moving to the financial media.
“I’m a great winner of her,” he admitted.
Despite these personal benefits, Cramer emphasized that globalization has contributed significantly to the erosion of employment in production throughout America.
“We favor free things in this country, but at a certain point, we also destroyed our small cities, and this is what I am focused on,” he explained.
After his comment in the air, Cramer expanded further in his stance through a post on the social media platform X, providing an additional context as to why he holds such strong views against free trade agreements.
“Free trade deleted my father’s business … It is not easily forgotten and a preliminary to President Trump’s opinion,” Cramer wrote in his X.
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