Ken Griffin is the founder and CEO of Citadel, one of the world’s leading alternative investment firms. On Wednesday, Griffin addressed the impact of the Trump administration’s ongoing tariff policies, warning that the global reputation of the U.S. is at stake.

“The United States is more than just a nation—it’s a brand,” Griffin said on Wednesday in a fireside chat during Semafor’s World Economy Summit of which he is a co-chair. From its culture to financial and military strength, the U.S. is an aspiration for most of the world, Griffin said, but at this juncture “We’re eroding that brand right now,” he said.

Griffin’s comments come amid ongoing fallout from the sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs President Trump announced on April 2, triggering a market meltdown. Trump pulled back in part a week later by announcing a 90-day pause on certain tariffs, but a 10% tariff on nearly all global imports, and a 25% levy on imported cars and certain auto parts remain in place. Trump told reporters at the White House on Tuesday that the U.S. tariff rate on Chinese imports, currently at 145%, will “come down substantially but it won’t be zero.”

Griffin cast the recent economic turmoil sparked by the White House in the context of consumers who buy a product because they trust the brand, Griffin explained. “On the financial markets, no brand can compare to the brand of the U.S. Treasuries …we put that brand at risk,” he said. It takes a very long time to remove the tarnish on a brand, Griffin said. 

Fears of the U.S. government’s shifting policies have weakened the dollar against other fiat currencies, though the dollar stabilized on Tuesday as the market ticked back up, Fortune reported. However, 61% of participants in Bank of America’s most recent Global Fund Manager Survey anticipated the dollar would decline in value over the next year.

The president, as well as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, “need to be very thoughtful,” Griffin said. “When you have a brand, you need to behave in a way that respects that brand,” he noted. 

Several people who have the president’s ear are in favor of the current tariff policies, he said. And there’s room to debate what the right policy is and what actions to take, he added. “But what’s most important is how we conduct ourselves so we do not diminish the stature of the United States of America,” Griffin said.

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• Scott Bessent called for sweeping change at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, claiming they needed to reconnect with their missions, faulting their dealings with China. 

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, in remarks to the Institute of International Finance on Wednesday, called for a sweeping overhaul at the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, and claimed the two institutions need to be reconnected with their missions. 

“The IMF and World Bank have enduring value, but mission creep has knocked these institutions off course,” Bessent said. The two are falling short, he said, and need reform.

The IMF and World Bank did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Bessent said the Trump administration wants to work with the institutions so long as they are true to their missions, which they presently are not, he claimed. He called their agendas sprawling and unfocused and have kept them from delivering on their core mandates: for the IMF, to promote global macroeconomic and financial stability, and for the World Bank, to promote long-term economic development and poverty reduction. The Trump administration will use American leadership and influence at these institutions and push for change. 

“The IMF has suffered from mission creep,” Bessent said. “The IMF was once unwavering in its mission of promoting global monetary cooperation and financial stability. Now it devotes disproportionate time and resources to work on climate change, gender, and social issues.”

The International Monetary Fund, he said, should be a brutal truth-teller. Instead, he claimed, it was “whistling past the graveyard.” The IMF a day earlier warned the global economy was headed for a slowdown because of uncertainty and trade tension, and the U.S. would suffer when it comes to economic growth. Bessent said he was open to critique, so long as others hear it too. 

“The IMF needs to call out countries like China that have pursued globally distorted policies and opaque currency practices for many decades,” he said. 

While the president put some of his tariffs on ice after a sell-off in the stock and bond markets, he tacked on more for China. China retaliated, threatening an escalating trade war. There may be less of a threat at the moment since Bessent floated a “de-escalation.” Trump also hinted at reduced tariffs on Chinese goods, and reports say the White House might slash its tariffs on China soon. 

Still, that hasn’t kept Bessent from declaring China needs to change, or calling on global financial institutions to keep it above board. “Treating China…as a developing country is absurd,” Bessent said, alluding to the World Bank. The bank, he said, has strayed from its mission.

“The bank should no longer expect blank checks for vapid, buzzword-centric marketing accompanied by half hearted commitments to reform,” Bessent said. 

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• Rare-earth metals form the powerful magnets crucial to producing fighter jets, smartphones, and the motors that power the arms of Tesla’s humanoid robot, called Optimus. CEO Elon Musk is optimistic the company will have thousands of Optimus units by the end of the year, but the company may be waiting on an export license from China, which controls over 90% of the market, for six months or more.

Elon Musk is confident Tesla will churn out one million of its humanoid Optimus robots by the end of the decade—or even 2029. For now, however, production will only move “as fast as the slowest and least lucky component in the entire thing,” he told investors Tuesday—and President Donald Trump’s tariff battle with China has created a significant roadblock.

As part of its retaliation against Trump’s trade barbs, Beijing has tightened export controls on seven rare-earth metals, a move that underlines China’s dominance in a market essential for making everything from fighter planes to smartphones. Notably for Tesla, these metals are critical to the small but powerful motors Musk says will soon enable Optimus robots to perform household chores and work on the electric-vehicle maker’s assembly lines.

“I’m confident we’ll overcome these issues,” Musk said Tuesday during Tesla’s first-quarter earnings call. “And we’ll, by the end of this year, have thousands of Optimus robots.”

Still, Tesla has seemingly no choice but to go through China. The country controls nearly 70% of all U.S. imports of rare earths, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

But that stat only begins to describe the scale of China’s minerals supremacy. The motors in Optimus, like smartphone chips, require these metals because of their ultra-magnetic properties. According to a 2023 report from the Aspen Institute, Beijing controls 92% of global magnet production from rare earths.

These so-called “permanent magnets” are also generally crucial in the production of electric vehicles, but Musk said Tesla, “on the whole,” does not need them. He said the design of Optimus, however, does require these magnets to power the robot’s arms with motors that won’t overheat or break in a small space.

“Those were affected by the supply chain by basically China requiring an export license to send out any rare-earth magnets,” Musk said. “So we’re working through that with China. Hopefully, we’ll get a license to use the rare-earth magnets.”

Those licenses for shipments to the U.S. won’t likely be processed for at least six months, Yang Jie, an export control lawyer at Shanghai law firm Huiye, told The New York Times.

“China wants some assurances that these are not used for military purposes, which obviously they’re not,” Musk said. “They’re just going into a humanoid robot.”

Tariffs hurt Tesla

Musk may have spent more than $250 million and plenty of his time to help Trump win the presidency, which Wedbush Securities’ Dan Ives called a “poker move for the ages” at the time, but it’s clear the administration’s chaotic tariff rollout has done Tesla few favors.

While Musk has headed the controversial Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)—he told investors he would soon back away from that role to refocus on Tesla—his pleas to avoid escalating trade tensions seem to have largely fallen on deaf ears. The world’s richest man has repeatedly sparred with Peter Navarro, one of Trump’s top trade advisors, who Musk has called a “moron” and “dumber than a sack of bricks.”

Tesla’s net income decreased 71% year-over-year in the first quarter as auto revenues fell below $14 billion for the first time in nearly three years.

Musk said the company’s localized supply chains in markets like America, Europe, and China put Tesla in a better position than competitors to weather escalating trade tensions. Still, he acknowledged tariffs are tough on a company when margins are still low. Tesla’s gross margin fell to 16.3% in Q1, down from 17.4% in the same period last year.

“I’ve been on the record many times saying that I believe lower tariffs are generally a good idea for prosperity,” Musk said. “But this decision is fundamentally up to the elected representative of the people being the president of the United States. So I’ll continue to advocate for lower tariffs rather than higher tariffs, but that’s all I can do.”There are signs Musk’s message is getting more traction in Washington: In a closed-door event hosted by JPMorgan Chase, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent signaled a possible “de-escalation” with China. Trump also indicated tariffs will come down substantially if a trade deal is reached.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com