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Two months ago, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon defended President Donald Trump’s tariff policy with a curt message: “Get over it.” But with stock markets lower and cracks appearing to form in the US economy, Dimon himself might not be over it.
“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 on Wednesday.
“But I do think companies might,” he added. “Uncertainty is not a good thing.”
Dimon’s tempered tone on tariffs comes after the CEO of America’s largest bank said to “get over it,” when discussing tariffs at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He said they could be “an economic tool” or “an economic weapon,” depending how they’re used.
“I would put in perspective: If it’s a little inflationary, but it’s good for national security, so be it,” Dimon said in an interview with CNBC at the time.
Since then, Trump’s on-and-off tariff policy has caused volatility in the stock market. Although broader markets rebounded on Wednesday, the S&P 500 was still down more than 7% over one month.
On Wednesday, Trump imposed sweeping 25% tariffs on all steel and aluminum imported into the United States — the latest round of tariffs in a global trade war — with Canada and the European Union swiftly retaliating. He has said his goal is to revitalize American manufacturing, slow illegal immigration and end fentanyl smuggling, but economists have warned that broad-based tariffs threaten to drive up prices on everything from food to new homes.
Dimon wasn’t the only CEO sounding off on Wednesday about the risks of a trade war. Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, said he believed the economy was weakening due to tariffs.
“The collective impact in the short run is that people are pausing, they’re pulling back,” Fink told CNN’s Kayla Tausche in an exclusive interview. “Talking to CEOs throughout the economy, I hear that the economy is weakening as we speak.”
Still, Fink said the Trump administration’s policies, including tariffs, could be beneficial to the United States in the long run.
“Right now the president is focusing on tariffs, but when he talks about reciprocal tariffs, actually, that may bring down tariffs over the long run,” Fink said, adding that he remains bullish on America in the long term.
CNN’s Elisabeth Buchwald, Bryan Mena and Kayla Tausche contributed to reporting.
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