O’Leary calls China tariffs soft, but Mark Levin sees the hidden brilliance

On April 8, Kevin O’Leary, commonly known as Mr. Wonderful, appeared on CNN to give his two cents on President Trump’s newly announced 104% tariffs on Chinese imports.

O’Leary was critical but not in the way most pundits are critical. On the contrary, O’Leary argued the tariffs weren’t even close to sufficient.

“104% tariffs in China are not enough. I’m advocating 400%. I do business in China. They don’t play by the rules; they’ve been in the WTO for decades; they have never abided by any of the rules they agreed to when they came in for decades. They cheat; they steal; they steal IP. I can’t litigate in their courts; they take product — technology, they steal it; they manufacture it and sell it back here,” he said.

When CNN host Laura Coates pushed back, O’Leary doubled down.

“I want Xi on an airplane to Washington to level the playing field. This is not about tariffs any more,” he said, noting that people can dislike Trump all they want but that standing up to China is simply the right thing to do.

Mark Levin says O’Leary’s “tough talking” is fine but that Trump’s tariff plan is already brilliant.

“What Trump is doing is he’s ratcheting, and that’s the right way to approach it,” he says, noting that the plan will cause some discomfort for Americans in the short term but ultimately will create fairer trade practices.

However, his tariff plan is much bigger than just trade.

“I think Trump is looking at — if not defeating the communist Chinese, severely damaging their economy and hence militarily, the way Reagan did the Soviet Union through economics,” says Levin.

“The truth is as big as the communist Chinese economy is, it’s not as big as ours. It’s two-thirds or so the size of the American economy. They cannot beat us economically, at least right now,” he explains.

These tariff plans are aimed at ensuring that it stays that way.

To hear more of Levin’s analysis, watch the clip above.

Want more from Mark Levin?

To enjoy more of “the Great One” — Mark Levin as you’ve never seen him before — subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.