Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates LP, speaks at the Abu Dhabi Finance Conference (ADFW) in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, on Tuesday, December 10, 2024.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty images
The founder of Bridgewater, Ray Dalio, said Sunday that he is concerned that the agitation resulting from the tariff and economic policies of President Donald Trump threaten the global economy.
“At this time we are at a decision -making point and very close to a recession,” Dalio said in NBC News, “they meet the press. “” And I worry something worse than a recession if this is not handled well. “
The billionaire of the coverage fund said he is more concerned with commercial interruptions, the raising of the debt of the United States and the emerging world powers that demolish the international economic and geopolitical structure that has been in place at the end of World War II.
“We go from multilatery, which is largely a type of American world order, to a unilateral world order in which there is a great conflict,” he said.
Dalio said that five forces drive history: the economy, the internal political conflict, the international order, the technology and the acts of nature, such as floods and pandemics. Trump tariffs have understandable objectives, Dalio said, but are being implemented in a “very disruptive” way that creates global conflicts.
The tariff policies that change quickly from the president have altered international trade. Trump announced on Wednesday a 90 -day break in his “reciprocal tariffs”, but remained firm with baseline 10% and 145% tasks of reciprocal tariffs in China.
Then, customs and border protection of the United States announced an exemption from reciprocal tariffs for electronic products for Chinese manufacturing consumption such as smartphones, computers and semiconductors on Friday night, although products are still subject to a 20% rate before. But the Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick backed away on Sunday and said that the exemption was not permanent.
In a Wednesday publication on X, Dalio asked the United States to negotiate a “win-win” trade agreement with China that would appreciate the yuan against the dollar. He also asked both countries to address their growing debts.
Dalio in “Meet The Press” said Sunday that Congress should reduce the federal deficit to 3% of the Gross Domestic Product, echoing the comments he made at the CNBC Converge Live event in March.
“If they do not, we will have a problem demanded by the offer for debt while we have other thesis problems, and the results of that will be worse than a normal recession,” Dalio said.
The same value of money is at stake, Dalio said. An breakdown in the bond market, combined with events such as internal and international conflict, could be even more severe for the monetary system than the cancellation of President Richard Nixon’s gold standard in 1971 and the world financial crisis in 2008.
That change is avoidable, said Dalio, if legislators work together to trim the deficit and the United States discourage conflict and inefficient politics in the global stage.
PRO: Look at CNBC’s full interview with Bridgewater Ray Dalio’s founder