JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon acknowledged Wednesday that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs were causing uncertainty for companies, but downplayed the effect on consumer behavior.
“I don’t think the average American consumer who wakes up in the morning and goes to work … changes what they’re going to do because they read about tariffs,” Dimon said in an interview with Semafor’s Gina Chon at a Washington, D.C., summit on retirement hosted by BlackRock and the Bipartisan Policy Center.
“But I do think companies might,” he said. “Uncertainty is not a good thing.”
Seven weeks into the Trump administration, economic and financial indicators are flashing red. Sweeping — and fast-changing — tariff plans targeting both allies and adversaries have unnerved the stock market, which has lost $4 trillion in value since its February peak. Earlier Wednesday, the European Union vowed to impose retaliatory tariffs on US agricultural products after the Trump administration moved forward with tariffs on steel and aluminum.
Dimon’s comments echoed those from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, who told Semafor’s Liz Hoffman that he “would not be surprised to see elevated inflation over the next five months” as Trump’s economic policies start to sink in. “Every CEO I talk to, we’re starting to talk about a more fearful economy right now,” he said. “But I do believe this is going to be more short-term, once we understand the policies, once we become more accustomed to it.”
