Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman has called President Donald Trump’s decision to impose reciprocal tariffs a “mistake” and warned of a looming “economic nuclear winter” if the tariffs are not immediately paused.
Hedge fund manager Bill Ackman warned of a looming “economic nuclear winter.”(REUTERS)
In a post on X this Sunday, Ackman said, “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 emphasized the need for a 90-day pause to allow Trump time to “negotiate and resolve unfair, asymmetric tariff deals,” which could attract “trillions in new investments.”
He added, “When markets crash, new investment stops, consumers stop spending money, and businesses have no choice but to curtail investment and fire workers. And it is not just the big companies that will suffer. Small and medium size businesses and entrepreneurs will experience much greater pain. Almost no business can pass through an overnight massive increase in costs to their customers. And that’s true even if they have no debt, and, unfortunately, there is a massive amount of leverage in the system.”
Ackman concluded with a stark warning: “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.”
Markets plummet –
Market jitters escalated as Dow futures plummeted 1,250 points (3.3%) Sunday evening, with S&P 500 futures down 3.7% and Nasdaq futures dropping 4.6%, according to CNN. Asian markets also took a hit: Japan’s Nikkei fell 8% at the open, China’s CSI300 blue-chip index dropped 4.5%, Singapore stocks plunged over 7%, and Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 sank 6.07%.
Fears of a Black Monday repeat –
Market analyst and CNBC host Jim Cramer warned on Saturday of a potential Black Monday-like crash, referencing the historic October 19, 1987, stock market crash when the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) plummeted 22.6% in a single day.
“If the president doesn’t try to reach out and reward these countries and companies that play by the rules, then the 1987 scenario … the one where we went down three days and then down 22 percent on Monday, has the most cogency,” Cramer said on his show.