JPMorgan Chase & Co. Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said two of President Donald Trump’s advisers offered some bad advice by predicting that trade tariffs wouldn’t trigger any retaliation by China.
Dimon said he now fears the administration's trade policies could derail the economic progress it has made.
"I'm a little worried it could create negative outcomes," Dimon told CNBC. "I think it could offset some of the benefits" of the tax overhaul and other measures, he said.
When asked what the biggest threats to the economy were, Dimon named the escalating trade dispute between the U.S. and China -- "if the skirmish becomes more of a war" -- and the unwinding of central banks' quantitative easing efforts.
Earlier this month, the United States imposed tariffs on $34 billion of Chinese imports. China promptly responded by levying taxes on the same value of U.S. products, leading U.S. President Donald Trump to threaten tariffs on $500 billion of Chinese goods.
Dimon also said that he told the administration that he and other business leaders disagreed on the trade tactics, but that Trump "obviously doesn't agree with us," Dimon said.
“Two of his advisers told him, and I’m not going to name them, but they told him there would be no retaliation. We said there absolutely would be. And they were wrong,” Dimon said.
“Several people said there would be no effect on consumer spending or inflation and they’re wrong. So the fact is some of things were wrong. I want him to succeed at having better trade,” Dimon said.
“I think there’s been retaliation, and I think if we do it there’ll be another predictable round of retaliation. And there will be a mounting uncertainty and a reducing investment and it will eventually slow down the GDP. And of course no one wants that,” Dimon said.
The U.S. is expected to keep ratcheting up tariff pressure, and there’s little sign of talks on the horizon between the two governments that would alleviate the tension. The next tranche of higher tariffs on a further $16 billion of China’s exports to the U.S. could arrive as soon as Aug. 1.
“We think there are just better ways to do it, but obviously we want him to finish a trade deal with China that deals with the important subjects. Reciprocal ownership, how intellectual property gets handled, non-tariff barriers and stuff like that. So those issues are all real. They need to be resolved,” Dimon said.
(Newsmax wire services contributed to this report).
© 2023 Newsmax Finance. All rights reserved.