Gary Cohn's resignation is a big blow to the market, but stocks could return to strong growth if President Donald Trump's proposed tariffs exempted Canada and Mexico, CNBC's Jim Cramer said Tuesday.
Stocks fell in extended trading Tuesday after news that White House chief economic advisor Cohn is resigning.
The "Mad Money" host said that Wall Street is paralyzed in fear by President Trump's proposed plan for tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on aluminium products. However, investors could reassess their anxiety if Trump's plan excluded the United States NAFTA partners.
"I believe a more focused tariff that excludes Canada and Mexico, at the very least, would create a wave of jubilation that would cause a return to our regularly scheduled programming of strong growth with tame inflation," Cramer said.
People on Wall Street and in the White House were confused about the timing and extent of the planned tariffs, which would hit allies like Canada and Mexico hard. On Monday, ministers from Canada and Mexico met with the U.S. to wrap up the latest round of NAFTA talks, and were expected to press Trump on the tariffs.
President Trump on Monday dangled the possibility of lifting the steel and aluminum tariffs if NAFTA is renegotiated to terms more favorable to the U.S.
Cramer said an exemption would not be exactly what Wall Street wanted, but he added the real issue is with the Chinese government, which produces about 55 percent of the world's aluminum. He expects investors would buy on the news.
"First, I think people would buy the defense stocks hand over first, the ones that investors think would be hurt the most by across the board tariffs," Cramer said.
"I bet some of the most beleaguered international stocks of late, the Boeings and the Caterpillars, have a relief rally and United Rentals, a huge buyer of capital equipment, takes out its all-time high," he added.
But Cramer said the stocks that would benefit the most are right under every investors' face.
The stocks that would perform best are "whatever is working best right now before we got the reprieve," Cramer explained. "That means Netflix and Amazon which are on insane runs as they extend their worldwide dominance. That means Alphabet, which does no business in China anyway, can continue to scream higher as it has been for the last few days."
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