JPMorgan Chase (JPM.N) CEO Jamie Dimon has warned that trade wars could have lasting negative consequences, days after he and other U.S. bank CEOs met with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick to discuss the administration's sweeping tariffs.
The meeting, hosted by the Financial Services Forum, an industry lobby group, took place on Thursday in Washington a day after the tariffs were announced, according to a source familiar with the meeting. Lutnick discussed President Donald Trump's strategy and CEOs asked questions.
Elsewhere on Wall Street, prominent investors who supported Trump in his presidential bid also raised the alarm about the tariffs. Billionaire fund manager Bill Ackman said they could lead to an "economic nuclear winter."
In Dimon's annual letter to shareholders, published on Monday following a rout last week that wiped trillions of dollars off global stock markets, he expressed concern about the United States' long-term economic alliances.
"The economy is facing considerable turbulence (including geopolitics)," Dimon wrote. "We are likely to see inflationary outcomes ... Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth."
Ackman, who endorsed Trump's run for president, said business leaders were losing confidence in Trump and urged the president to pause the tariffs while renegotiating trade deals.
If the tariffs are imposed this week, "we are heading for a self-induced, economic nuclear winter," Ackman wrote on X. They would stymie business investment and consumer spending and "severely damage" the U.S.' reputation for years, he wrote.
JPMorgan's economists raised the risk of a U.S. and global recession this year to 60% from 40% after Trump unveiled the trade barriers.
Dimon, 69, is one of the most prominent voices in corporate America.
"The quicker this issue is resolved, the better because some of the negative effects increase cumulatively over time and would be hard to reverse," he wrote.
He said the risks from the tariffs and trade war included persistent inflation and high fiscal deficits, asset prices and volatility.
Dimon also expressed concern that the tariffs would draw retaliation and affect economic confidence, investments, capital flows, corporate profits and the dollar.
Separately, major bank CEOs including Dimon and Bank of America (BAC.N) CEO Brian Moynihan held a call on Sunday to discuss the repercussions of the tariffs, sources familiar with the matter said. The call was convened by the Bank Policy Institute, an association representing large U.S. lenders, they said.
JPMorgan will report its first quarter results on Friday. It earned a record annual profit last year.
Dimon often weighs in on government policies, and has been consulted by officials in times of crisis.
His name was floated for senior economic roles in government during the 2024 presidential campaign, including Treasury secretary, but he stayed put at the bank.
Tariffs also raise questions about the direction of interest rates, Dimon said. While rates have declined recently because of the weaker dollar, the prospect of slower growth and declining risk appetite could cause rates to rise, he said, referring to the stagflation of the 1970s.
Expectations that the U.S. will avoid slipping into recession could also be derailed.
"We enter this time of uncertainty with high equity and debt prices, even after the recent decline ... markets still seem to be pricing assets with the assumption that we will continue to have a fairly soft landing. I am not so sure," Dimon wrote.
