Billionaire private equity titan David Rubenstein, co-founder and co-executive chairman of The Carlyle Group (CG), thinks the United States and China will reach a trade deal.
“Both sides want a deal — and I think both sides need a deal — so in any deal there’s always ups and downs,” he told Yahoo Finance at the SALT Conference in Las Vegas. “And right now because the Chinese seem to have receded on some things we thought they had committed to, the Americans have said they’re not happy with that. But I think this will get worked out and I do believe by the end of the summer, certainly, a deal will get done.”
The stock market went into a tizzy over the past few trading sessions amid worries that President Trump was planning to increase tariffs on $200 billion worth of goods from China starting on Friday.
“These are temporary kinds of ups and downs in a trade negotiation,” Rubenstein said. “We deploy capital over a longer term period of time. We still think China is a wonderful place to invest, as is the United States.”
He said trade issues don’t have an effect on Carlyle’s day-to-day investing policy.
Within the United States, Rubenstein still sees opportunities, even though asset prices are elevated.
“There are still some very good companies that are available, and financing is relatively inexpensive,” he added.
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Scott Gamm is a reporter at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @ScottGamm.
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