Jamie Dimon, whose Fox Business interview this week helped convince President Donald Trump to pause tariffs on most countries, had another dire warning for the White House on Friday.
The JPMorgan Chase CEO cautioned the U.S. economy faces “considerable turbulence” as Trump tees up a trade war with China while still promising his market-crashing reciprocal tariffs on the rest of the world will return in the summer.
Dimon said he expects the S&P 500, which is down 5 percent over the last month, to fall further than what many analysts have recently projected publicly. This, he said, is the direct result of “geopolitical and trade-related tensions.”
“Analysts have generally reduced their S&P estimate earnings by 5 percent,” Dimon said. “I think you’ll see that come down some more.”
Dimon, 69, made his comments in a call with reporters to discuss JPMorgan’s first quarter earnings. The bank exceeded revenue expectations in the quarter, but Dimon is not confident such profits will continue into the second, which began a day before Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs threw a wrench into what was a strong economy.
The banker said he noticed businesses are weary of making big financial moves as the White House flip-flops its tariff policy—as well as the reason behind them—so often and so abruptly.
“People are being cautious,” Dimon said. “You know, people are pulling back on doing deals, not just big ones, but middle market companies are being very cautious about investment.”
Other executives have spoke similarly. Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said this week that Trump’s tariffs were “the wrong approach” and that Delta, the country’s largest airline by market share, expected revenue to slump 2 percent in Q2. To minimize its losses, Bastian said Delta would slow its introduction of new routes for consumers.
Trump on Wednesday postponed his reciprocal tariffs for 90 days on all countries apart from China, which he slapped with a 145 percent tariff rate. That prompted Beijing to respond with a 125 percent tariff on American products.
The markets rallied Wednesday after Trump pressed pause on most tariffs, prompting him to take a victory lap, but they shed about half of those gains in a sharp dip on Thursday. The markets held steady at that lower level at the opening bell on Friday.
Yields on treasuries soared on the bond market in the last week. Dimon said Friday that U.S. Treasury bonds remain a safe place to invest amid market turmoil.
“If you’re going to invest your money in something, America is still a pretty, pretty good place in this turbulent world,” he said, adding, “this is still the most prosperous nation on the planet.”
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