Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent this morning declined to rule out the possibility of delisting Chinese stocks from U.S. exchanges, during an interview on Fox Business Network.

Why it matters: The trade war could bleed beyond tariffs.

Zoom in: Bessent didn't raise the delisting prospect, but also didn't flinch when asked about it by Maria Bartiromo.

• "I think everything's on the table," Bessent said, before talking about export controls on both goods and capital to China. He then added: "That will be President Trump's decision. At the end of the day, President Trump and Chairman Xi have a very good personal relationship and I'm confident this will be resolved at the highest levels."

By the numbers: As of March 7, there were 286 Chinese companies listed on U.S. exchanges with a $1.1 trillion market cap. That's a slight year-over-year increase in the number of companies, and obviously the market cap has dropped over the past month.

• It's hard to see another issuer increase given Bessent's comments, even if they aren't ever acted upon. And that could become a boon for foreign exchanges like London, which already nabbed Shein's prospective IPO due to U.S. regulatory issues.
• Also worth noting that Shein, the Chinese apparel maker once valued by VCs at $66 billion, is suddenly under major pressure due to Trump removing the "de minimis" exemption, so its IPO is now up in the air.

And then... Bessent follows up his Fox Business hit by lobbing new rhetorical grenades at China during a conversation with the American Bankers Association, adding that any U.S. allies aligning with China on trade would be "cutting your own throat."

• "The biggest offender in the global trading system is China. ... For all of you who can remember that Disney movie with the brooms carrying buckets of water, that's the Chinese business model. It never stops, they just keep producing and producing and dumping and dumping."
• He also said China was the only country that had escalated in response to Trump's tariffs, and just moments later came news that the EU approved its first set of retaliatory tariffs.

The bottom line: The decoupling is accelerating.

Lerer Hippeau has raised $200 million for its ninth flagship VC fund, the firm tells Axios exclusively.

Why it's the BFD: It's been 30 years since "Silicon Alley" was coined to describe New York City's tech scene, and 25 years since its development was bolstered by the formation of what would become Lerer Hippeau.

• Lerer Hippeau also is an initial investor in Axios, one of its relatively few non-NY deals, although no longer has a stake.

By the numbers: Each of the firm's nine funds has been slightly larger than its predecessor. Lerer Hippeau also is still investing out of its fourth "select" fund, which is around one-third committed.

What they're saying: "When we got started it was a right place, right time moment. Everyone was complaining that there was no institutional money in New York, plus no exited tech founders so no angels," Ben Lerer says.

• "We're now so far past that, and even past New York being a consumer or media town. There's a sliver of AI and cloud infrastructure that generally builds in San Francisco, but at the mid or app layer in any of those markets, there are major businesses getting built here."

• Tailscale, a Toronto-based corporate VPN startup, raised US$160m led by Accel at a $1.5b valuation, per Bloomberg. Accel led, joined by CRV, Insight Partners, Heavybit, and Uncork Capital. axios.link/3XTePZ8

🚑 MeridaBiosciences, a Cambridge, Mass.-based biotech focused on serious autoimmune and allergic diseases, raised $121m in Series A funding. Bain Capital Life Sciences, BVF Partners and Third Rock Ventures co-led, joined by GV and PXV Funds. axios.link/423NnKz

• SILQ Group, an ecommerce group formed via the merger of ShopUp (Bangladesh) and Sary (Saudi Arabia), raised $110m co-led by Sanabil Investments and Valar Ventures, with Qatar Development Bank participating. axios.link/4j2y2Qz

• Brinc, a Seattle-based maker of public safety drones, raised $75m. Index Ventures led, joined by Motorola. axios.link/43Ll05g

• Rain, an LA-based earned wage access app, raised $75m in Series B funding led by Prosus at a $340m post-money valuation. axios.link/43JA6rZ

• Anecdotes, a Palo Alto, Calif.-based GRC automation platform, raised $55m in Series B funding led by DTCP and Glilot, with participation from Vertex and Red Dot. axios.link/3G37HTO

⚡ Corinex, a Canadian developer of broadband-over-power-lines tech for grid visibility, raised US$30m led by Energy Growth Momentum, joined by Suma Capital and Adara Ventures. axios.link/42lL2JR

• TransFICC, a London-based provider of connectivity and workflow services for fixed income and derivatives markets, raised $25m in Series B funding. Citadel Securities led, joined by BlackFin Tech, AlbionVC, Citi, HSBC, Illuminate Financial, ING, and Neosfer. axios.link/42M0orx

• Blumind, a Canadian maker of analog AI chips for edge computing, raised C$20M in Series A funding co-led by Cycle Capital and BDC Capital. axios.link/4jsU4vG

• Gallatin, a Washington, D.C.-based military logistics startup, raised $15m in seed funding, per Axios. 8VC led, joined by Silent Ventures, Moonshots Capital, Timeless Partners, and Banter Capital. axios.link/4loAL8o

• Luzern Risk (fka XN Captive), a New York-based captive insurance platform for the midmarket, raised $12m in Series A funding led by Caffeinated Capital. luzernrisk.com

🌎 Remedy Scientific, an Alameda, Calif., startup that cleans up toxic dirt, raised $11m in seed funding, per Axios Pro. Backers include Eclipse, Refactor, Cantos, and Box Group. axios.link/4cpqbKh

• Glimpse, a New York-based provider of deduction management for CPG brands, raised $10m in Series A funding led by 8VC. axios.link/4i8w8g6

🚑 Vaxess, a Woburn, Mass., developer of microarray patch tech for home delivery of therapies, raised $9m from RA Capital Management and Engine Ventures. vaxess.com

• Octane, an SF-based cybersecurity startup for crypto, raised $6.75m co-led by Archetype and Winklevoss Capital. axios.link/3FWLJlz

⚡ Plug, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based EV auction startup, raised $6.7m in seed funding from Floodgate, Autotech Ventures and A*, Leap Forward Ventures, Renn Global, Cleo Capital, Toba Capital, and ODF. axios.link/4liCXyp

• HoneyHive, an AI agent observability and evaluation platform, raised $5.5m in seed funding. Insight Partners led, joined by Zero Prime Ventures, 468 Capital, and MVP Ventures. axios.link/4lf2fgG

• Dealstack, a British platform for automating private capital operations, raised $5.5m in seed funding from individuals at Paul Weiss, Kirkland & Ellis, Latham & Watkins, KKR, CVC, TA Associates, and Goldman Sachs. axios.link/4loB1nS

• Spektion, an Austin, Texas-based software vulnerability management startup, raised $5m in seed funding led by LiveOak Ventures, with participation from Tau Ventures and Dauntless Ventures. spektion.com

🌎 Adaptis, a New York-based provider of sustainable building software, raised $4m in seed funding led by Building Ventures and with participation from MetaProp, 2048 Ventures, Powerhouse Ventures, and Blue Vision Capital. axios.link/4lrbTgw

• Optise, an Icelandic website analytics platform, raised $2.2m in pre-seed funding led by Frumtak Ventures. axios.link/3Efqivm

• Sats Terminal, a Defi scaling and simplification startup, raised $1.7m co-led by Coinbase Ventures and Draper Associates. axios.link/3EeUvuy

• Apollo invested in tokenization business Plume. axios.link/43G0JxU

🚑 Assura (LSE: AGRP), a British medical properties REIT, agreed to a £1.61b takeover by KKR and Stonepeak Partners, after rejecting a lower offer from Primary Health Properties (LSE: PHP). axios.link/42t0sw4

🚑 Bain Capital plans to acquire health insurtech HealthProof, and then merge it with HealthEdge, which it's buying for around $2.6b from Blackstone, per Axios Pro. axios.link/3REYm75

• Driv Kapital acquired Nordic haircare brand Björn Axén. bjornaxen.com

• Enpal, a German solar panel and battery supplier, raised €110m led by TPG. axios.link/3XQL6zU

🚑 KKR agreed to buy Swedish consumer health firm Karo Healthcare, maker of E45 moisturizer, from EQT for more than €2.5b. axios.link/4iZ1SVX

• U.S. Compliance, a Susquehanna Growth Equity portfolio company, acquired OECS, a St. Louis Park, Minn.-based environmental, health and safety consultancy. oecscomply.com

⚡ 1Komma5, a German home electrification startu valued by VCs at over $1b, postponed plans for a U.S. IPO. axios.link/43RDTnb

🚑 Stada, a German drugmaker owned by Bain Capital and Cinven, postponed its IPO due to market volatility, per the WSJ. axios.link/3REXwHt

• Banco Santander (Madrid: SAN) is considering the sale of its majority stake in its Polish unit, which could fetch around $8b, per Bloomberg. axios.link/4iXBLi9

⚡ Sandbrook Capital sold Havfram, a Norwegian offshore wind infrastructure company, to Belgium's DEME (Euronext: DEME) for approximately €900m. axios.link/4i91uD9

• Zozo (Tokyo: 3092) agreed to buy British online fashion retail portal Lyst for $154m in cash. Lyst raised over $180m, including once at a $700m valuation, from Fidelity, Novator Capital, Giano Capital, C4 Ventures and insiders Draper Esprit, 14W, Accel, Balderton Capital, Venrex and LVMH. axios.link/3EeZ5ZS

• Andreessen Horowitz is speaking with large overseas LPs about raising a $20b VC fund, per Reuters.

• Cavu Captial is raising its fifth consumer-focused PE fund, per an SEC filing.

🌎 JPMorgan Asset Management raised $1.5b for its second forest and climate solutions fund. closed Campbell Global's Forest & Climate Solutions Fund II with $1.5b. axios.link/4lpawyJ

• RCP Advisors raised $994m for its fifth co-investing fund. rcpadvisors.com

• Outlier Grove, a London-based VC firm led by Candice du Fretay (ex-Accel), raised $20m for its debut seed fund. axios.link/426U1zU

• Delaney Brown left Bregal Investments, where he was head of capital solutions, per PEI. axios.link/4jiFaIi

• Jennifer Kwon Chou, a senior managing director at Gores Group, joined Runway Growth Capital (Nasdaq: RWAY) as an independent director. axios.link/42CXoyC

• Mike Drittel joined Garnett Station Partners as a principal. He previously was with General Atlantic. axios.link/4ielvs1

• Felicis promoted James Detweiler to partner. axios.link/42D6YBy

• Tannon Krumpelman joined Solomon Partners as a partner focused on financial services. He previously was with Evercore. axios.link/42qVVdr

• Kevin Pluff will join Apollo as a partner and co-head of capital markets, per Bloomberg. He previously led capital markets for HPS Investment Partners. axios.link/42etWgQ

• Andrew Woeber joined Barclays as global head of M&A. He previously was a partner at Centerview. axios.link/3RdfzEF

The market volatility we've seen in the past week isn't unprecedented, but it's extremely rare, Axios' Felix Salmon writes:

• "This kind of noise is a sign that we've now entered a world of radical uncertainty, and that the markets are finding it impossible to do their main job, which is price discovery."