'Volatility and conflict’: Business leaders sound warnings over Trump's tariffs

CONVERGE LIVE - Singapore, March 12-13 2025 - Request invitation

LONDON — President Donald Trump's trade tariffs are a major concern among U.S. and international business leaders, with industry titans warning of trouble ahead.

Speaking at CNBC's CONVERGE LIVE in Singapore, Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio warned of "fighting" between countries over the duties.

"Tariffs are going to cause fighting between countries … I'm not necessarily talking about military. But think about U.S., Canada, Mexico, China ... There will be fighting, and that will have consequences," he said, speaking to CNBC's Sara Eisen on Wednesday.

Trump's 25% tariffs on aluminum and steel imports took effect Wednesday, with the EU, Australia and Canada among the regions and countries affected. U.S. markets have been in turmoil over the duties this week.

Dalio said the current environment is "an extension of the patterns of history" — giving 1930s Germany as an example.

There was a hike in tariffs to boost revenue and a buildup of the country's domestic base as well as a writedown of debt at the time, Dalio said. "Be nationalistic, be protectionistic, be militaristic. That is the way these things operate," Dalio said. "The issue is really the confrontation of all of this," he said.

Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff described reciprocity between countries as "good" if they treat each other the same way. But he said the "what and the how" are "very important." "If you can't put the what and the how in a consistent, clear and meaningful way, then you could end up with high levels of volatility and conflict," Benioff said, speaking at CONVERGE.

Alec Kersman, managing director and head of Asia-Pacific at Pimco, warned of an increased risk of recession because of the tariffs.