John Paulson, the Republican megadonor considered to be a potential Treasury secretary if Donald Trump wins the presidential election, has warned that the US must not “decouple” from China, striking a more measured tone than the former president on trade.
The hedge fund billionaire, who hosted the Republican candidate at a $50mn fundraiser in Florida last week, also said tariffs, which Trump has vowed to impose on China, were a “blunt tool” to fix trade imbalances.
“We don’t want to decouple from China,” Paulson told the Financial Times in an interview. “China is the second-largest economy in the world. We need to have a good economic and political relationship with them.”