China seeking world dominance through economics: Bob Nardelli

Former Chrysler and Home Depot CEO Bob Nardelli said China’s goal on the world stage is to become an economic superpower.

“I think China probably is looking at world dominance through economics, not through war or power," he said during an interview on “Maria Bartiromo’s Wall Street” on Friday.

The business legend said China uses a business philosophy that involves a buy-sell strategy to be globally competitive.

“They buy a piece, they buy up and then they eventually buy out to be able to plant a flag here in the U.S.,” Nardelli said.

The Trump administration announced it will impose a 25% tariff on about $50 billion of Chinese goods.

“This is going to be a long process to try and quell some of the issues that have gone on over there on [intellectual property] and stealing of IP,” Nardelli said.

The U.S. economy has seen a surge during the first half of the year thanks in part to Trump administration policies, according to Nardelli.

“I think the Fortune 500 CEOs have done a phenomenal job, and they give a lot of credit to this administration,” he told FOX Business.

Nardelli said half of the CEOs expect the economy to improve significantly in the next 12 months compared to the previous year.

“Over 70 percent of them are going to be hiring people. They believe that the new tax code is going to help significantly,” Nardelli said.