Jamie Dimon adjusts view on Trump’s tariffs

JP Morgan Chase CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon on Thursday expressed optimism about President Donald Trump’s second-term tariffs when CNBC reporter Leslie Picker asked him about them.

Trump announced sweeping reciprocal tariffs on numerous countries on April 2 before announcing a 90-day pause on April 9, which lowered the rates for most nations to a baseline of 10% and set new rates for many countries after the pause. Picker asked Dimon on “Money Movers” whether he shared Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s concern that the tariffs could lead to increased inflation. (RELATED: Trump Locks In China Trade Deal, Keeps Pressure On Beijing)

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“[T]here are a lot of forces at work in the economy. And tariffs are one of them. The remilitarization of the world, the fiscal deficits, the demographics, all those things are going to drive various things,” Dimon said. “And yeah, they may drive slightly higher inflation. But [what] you really want is more growth. That is far more important than whether inflation ticks up or down a little bit … and then tariffs themselves, they’ve been greatly moderated. People can, I think, kind of deal with the 15% kind of number.”

“In a lot of cases, these are agreements in principle — the 15% relates to half of the imports, not 100%. And I think our imports around $4 trillion — goods imports. So if it’s on average 7 or 8%, you’re talking $300 billion a year on a $30 trillion economy,” he continued. “So that might have some effect. And it’s also quite clear some is being passed on and some is not. And we just don’t know yet. And you may see more effect down the road. We’ll have to wait and see.”

Picker noted it seemed as though Dimon was less worried about tariffs than he was in his annual letter in 2024 where he warned they would probably cause inflation.

Dimon said Picker was correct and cited the lack of escalation in wars and Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill becoming law on July 4 as reasons why.

“And then we started tariffs. We didn’t know what they were going to be. And now we kind of know. And they’re more moderate and thoughtful and more carefully done,” he said. “And hopefully they’ll help some companies export. Maybe some people move manufacturing back here. So so far, so good.”

Trump announced major trade deals with the European Union and Japan within the last two weeks. The administration is also holding ongoing talks with China before the August 12 deadline.

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