Ken Langone, a Republican supporter and co-founder of Home Depot, told CNBC on Monday that the controversial border tax provision of the House GOP corporate tax reform proposal would be a "phenomenal engine for growth in America."
"I can't be more excited about a border tax," Langone said on "Squawk Box." The border tax would tax imports. He agrees with the notion that a border levy could boost the dollar and help negate the impact on American companies.
Advocates of the border tax argue that any burden on companies that rely heavily on imports would be offset by an increase in the dollar's value due to the policy, thus negating the need for importers to hike prices for consumers.
"The border adjustment tax will work ... for retailers, but [they've] got to think beyond the next quarter or the next six months," Langone said.
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Fellow billionaire Home Depot co-founder Bernie Marcus supports the border tax as well, said Langone. "If you took Bernie's and my investment in Home Depot, it would probably add up to more than the total investment of all the CEOs of all the other major retailers. I would say we have some skin in the game," Langone said.
"I wouldn't be embracing this border adjustment tax if I thought it was going to hurt one of my biggest single investments, Home Depot," he said.
"On border adjustment tax, given that there is no specific tax legislation to react to yet, the company hasn't taken a position either way. We're on the sidelines until the details are more clear," a Home Depot spokesperson said.
Langone said about 20 percent of Home Depot's products are imported.
"You're going to have to be intelligent about how you implement it," he said. "Take a Home Depot, give us time to renegotiate our contracts with our foreign sources."
It's time for dramatic change in Washington, Langone argued, adding voters elected President Donald Trump because they did not want incremental change.
"The American people elected him president, in my mind, for one reason: they don't want incremental change. They want major change," said Langone, founder and CEO of investment bank Invemed Associates, specializing in health-care and high-technology companies
He also encouraged Republicans on Capitol Hill to boldly act, arguing that not doing so could risk the GOP majorities in the House and the Senate. "A border tax, if we have a long point of view, will be a phenomenal engine for growth in America, big time," he added.
Before endorsing Trump, Langone first supported New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and then Ohio Gov. John Kasich in the Republican presidential primary race.