Mark Cuban Hits Trump For Putting Companies ‘Underneath A Hammer’ With Tariff Proposal

Mark Cuban slammed former President Donald Trump on Thursday over tariffs he proposed for John Deere should he win the election.

Trump, who has previously pledged to impose tariffs on foreign-made products from China and other countries in a proposal that several economists have warned about, threatened the agricultural equipment company Monday with a 200% tariff if it moves some of its manufacturing in the U.S. to Mexico.

“Donald Trump is trying to come in with a hammer and say, ‘You’re the nail, I’m gonna hit you with a 200% tariff, John Deere,’” said the “Shark Tank” investor and billionaire in an appearance on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.”

He continued, “Kamala Harris is saying, ’I’m gonna give you incentives to manufacture more. Which do you think is gonna work better with companies? Do you wanna be underneath a hammer?”

His comments arrive months after Fox Business Network reported that John Deere laid off hundreds of employees at plants in Illinois and Iowa. The company also announced that it was moving manufacturing of skid steer loaders and compact track loaders to Mexico by the end of 2026.

A spokesperson for the company, in response to Trump’s threat, noted in an email to The Gazette that under 5% of its U.S. sales are manufactured in Mexico whereas 75% of U.S. sales stem from American facilities.

John Deere isn’t “moving production to Mexico as continues to be reported,” the spokesperson said, and the company has instead “strategically leveraged our footprint in Mexico for cab production.”

Cuban, who has endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and has referred to her as “pro-business,” wrote on social media earlier this week that imposing a 200% tariff on John Deere would be “insane.”

“Good way to destroy a legendary American company and increase costs to American buyers,” Cuban wrote in response to a clip of Trump’s comments.

Cuban, in his “Squawk Box” appearance, warned of what could happen if Trump wins and puts such a tariff on John Deere.

“When you put a 200% tariff on John Deere and then only a 10-20% tariff on their Chinese competitors, their Chinese competitors are now less expensive than John Deere,” said Cuban of Trump, who has falsely claimed that tariffs don’t “affect our country.”

The billionaire, in an interview with MSNBC’s Nicolle Wallace on Wednesday, questioned why Trump has the “perception of being good on the economy.”

“I mean, he’s a good salesperson, you know? He talks a good game, but it doesn’t mean he follows through or gets the job done,” Cuban said.