Billionaire Mark Cuban Asks Should Small Businesses Be 'Ignored' After Trump Redirects Question On Tariff Relief For 'Little Businesses'

Billionaire investor and Shark Tank fame, Mark Cuban, questioned President Donald Trump’s focus on small businesses amid the tariff and the recession backdrop, asking if only the “big industries” mattered.

What Happened: President Trump, while speaking to a reporter from NBC News, responded to a question about tariff relief for small industries and said, “Why do you always mention, you know, a couple of little businesses? What about the car business? They’re gonna make a fortune because of the tariffs.”

Responding to the clip, Cuban asked, “Should small businesses be ignored? Or are big industries all that matter?”

In another X post, Cuban explained how small cities, towns, and states will get hit the worst because of a recession. “Recessions don't hit all parts of the country equally,” he said.

According to him, the smaller towns and businesses that are more expensive to reach will be more susceptible to the impact of tariffs.

These entities will be the first to see their product shipments cut when there are shortages, and their prices will go up more as a result, he said.

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Why It Matters: Trump’s focus has been on the auto industry as he modified planned auto import tariffs in an April 29 executive order, offering Detroit automakers a two-year reprieve.

Instead of a 25% tariff on all imported autos and parts, the orders capped tariffs at 25% per vehicle, exempting aluminum, steel, and USMCA-compliant content. U.S.-built vehicles with 85% U.S. and/or USMCA content are tariff-free in the first year.

Michigan auto groups had criticized the tariffs, citing job and supply chain uncertainty.

Detroit-based automakers, General Motors Co. GM, Ford Motor Co. F, and Stellantis NV STLA, along with Tesla Inc. TSLA, could benefit from these decisions.

Price Action: The SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY and Invesco QQQ Trust ETF QQQ, which track the S&P 500 index and Nasdaq 100 index, respectively, rose on Friday. The SPY was up 1.48% to $566.76, while the QQQ advanced 1.48% to $488.83, according to Benzinga Pro data.

The futures of Dow Jones, S&P 500, and Nasdaq 100 were trading lower on Monday.

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