‘Countries like India…’: JPMorgan CEO's advice to Trump amid trade war fears

JP Morgan CEO suggested that the US should develop closer trade ties with some countries instead of asking them to align themselves with the US.

JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon has warned that US President Donald Trump's tariffs can spike up inflation and lead to recession in the world's biggest economy.

Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., speaks during the 2025 National Retirement Summit in Washington, DC, US, on Wednesday, March 12, 2025. (Al Drago/Bloomberg)

Dimon, in his annual letter to shareholders, also suggested that the US should develop closer trade ties with countries such as India instead of asking them to align themselves with the US.

"The recent tariffs will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession," Dimon said.

Cautioning that the market valuations are continuing to remain relatively high, he added that “these significant and somewhat unprecedented forces cause us to remain very cautious.”

"The economy is facing considerable turbulence (including geopolitics), with the potential positives of tax reform and deregulation and the potential negatives of tariffs and "trade wars," ongoing sticky inflation, high fiscal deficits, and still rather high asset prices and volatility," Dimon added.

He also said that even if the tariffs don't cause a recession, it will slow down growth.

"As for the short-term, we are likely to see inflationary outcomes, not only on imported goods but on domestic prices, as input costs rise and demand increases on domestic product," he said.

As a result, he recommended that Washington should be bringing nonaligned nations like India and Brazil closer by extending a friendly hand since the US lacks trade agreements with some of its closest allies.

For India and Brazil specifically, the new tariffs are of 26% and 10% respectively. Meanwhile, tariffs on China were raised to as much as 84% after Beijing retaliated.