Kevin O'Leary says the US needs to go 'DEFCON 19 against China' and break the country with heavy tariffs

• Kevin O'Leary says the US needs to impose heavier tariffs on China.
• "You squeeze them because the Chinese only understand the stick," O'Leary told Fox News on Sunday.
• Former President Donald Trump says he'll impose tariffs of more than 60% on China if he's elected.

"Shark Tank" star Kevin O'Leary says the US needs to level the playing field against China by imposing heavy tariffs on the country.

O'Leary was on Fox News' "Sunday Night in America with Trey Gowdy" when he called for increased trade restrictions with China.

"I want to go to DEFCON 19 against China. I don't like tariffs against anybody else, but I want to bring them to their knees with a blowtorch to deal with us fairly, and that's why you use tariffs," O'Leary told Gowdy on Sunday.

"You squeeze them because the Chinese only understand the stick. I've said it countless times, they understand the stick, they respect the stick, give them the stick," O'Leary added.

This isn't the first time O'Leary has expressed his frustrations with the Chinese market. In August, O'Leary told Fox Business host Stuart Varney that he's had a bad experience investing in China.

"I'm an investor. I have positions in China. And just so everybody knows why I'm so biased — they have screwed me over the last 12 years," O'Leary told Varney.

"I have no access to their courts. I can't understand why they get to list their companies without the same cost and compliance that I have to pay," O'Leary added.

Representatives for O'Leary didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider sent outside regular business hours.

O'Leary's call for heavier tariffs echoes former President Donald Trump's position on the matter. Trump has said that if he returns to the White House, he plans to impose more than 60% tariffs on Chinese goods.

"You know, obviously, I'm not looking to hurt China. I want to get along with China. I think it's great. But they've really taken advantage of our country," Trump told "Sunday Morning Futures" host Maria Bartiromo in February.

The former president has also floated the possibility of imposing tariffs on US companies that move parts of their business abroad. In September, Trump threatened to impose a 200% tariff on agriculture equipment company John Deere if it moved part of its manufacturing to Mexico.

"They think they're going to make product cheaper in Mexico and then sell it in for the same price as they did before, make a lot of money by getting rid of our labor and our jobs," Trump told attendees at an agricultural policy roundtable in Smithton, Pennsylvania.

To be sure, Trump isn't the only politician who has incorporated tariffs into his economic policy.

For one, President Joe Biden retained most of Trump's trade restrictions on China. The Biden administration has even gone further by imposing more tariffs and duties on Chinese exports.

In May, the US government raised tariffs on Chinese EVs from 25% to 100%, effectively shutting Chinese automakers out of the US market.

Vice President Kamala Harris, who is vying against Trump for the presidency, has criticized the latter's push for higher tariffs.

During the presidential debate on September 10, Harris said that Trump's tariffs are essentially a "sales tax" on American households.

Notably, Harris hasn't said if she would retain Biden's tariffs. But she did say on her campaign website that she "will not tolerate unfair trade practices from China or any competitor that undermines American workers."

"Vice President Harris will employ targeted and strategic tariffs to support American workers, strengthen our economy, and hold our adversaries accountable," a Harris campaign spokesperson said in a statement to Foreign Policy magazine last month.

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