JP Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon called on the Trump administration to negotiate deals with major trading partners swiftly to resolve the burgeoning global tariff war, warning that an economic “slowdown” is coming.

During a Fox Business Network interview with Maria Bartiromo on Wednesday, Dimon said it was “perfectly reasonable” for the White House to say that trade policies and outcomes have been “unfair” and to seek a more “fair” international trade policy.

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He paired the sentiment with a message to President Donald Trump, warning that a recession is a “likely outcome” of broad tariffs on nearly every country. He urged the administration to “calm down the markets” by “showing progress” on new trade deals and called on Trump to address the “huge anger” from U.S. allies to help “keep the Western world together.”

“Part of me thinks that don’t let this go on too long because it’s causing cumulative damage, including huge anger at the United States,” Dimon said. “My goal would be to keep the Allies together, get them together, keep working on that. You know, where you fix the trade, if it’s unfair trade, fix it. … If they fixed that, it would be good for them, and then, you know, pull them closer and keep the Western world together.”

After the stock market experienced its worst day since the COVID-19 pandemic began in 2020 last Thursday in reaction to Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs, JP Morgan analysts predicted a 60% chance of a global recession if the tariffs are sustained — up from 40% in 2024. The trade war has escalated in the past week, with Trump raising tariffs on China to 104% and Beijing announcing Wednesday 84% retaliatory tariffs on the U.S.

When pressed on Wednesday whether he expects a recession, Dimon said, “I think probably that’s a likely outcome.” While he hasn’t seen defaults “yet,” Dimon “expects” to see them as well as “more credit problems than people have seen in a long time.”

“Normally, I don’t pay that much attention to anecdotes, but you heard them. They’re real. I hear from just everybody now, ‘I’m going to cut back a little bit. I’m going to wait and see what happens,’” Dimon said. “That is kind of recessionary talk. … So I think we’re going to see now is corporations making announcement after announcement about, ‘Don’t expect my guidance to be true. I’m going to hold back here a little bit.’ These are long-term decisions they have to make. … So, yeah, I think you’re going to see a slowdown. I think the economists are probably right to say that you should expect that.”

TRUMP WON’T PAUSE RECIPROCAL TARIFFS TO ALLOW FOR NEGOTIATIONS

Dimon said it is urgent for Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to reach trade deals with dozens of countries that have reached out to the U.S. in response to the tariffs.

“I hope what they really do is let Scott Bessent— he’s a professional negotiator— I know Japan, see, I gather Korea, Vietnam have called [to renegotiate trade deals in response to Trump’s tariffs]. And then eventually Europe,” Dimon said. “Get those things done quickly if you want to calm down the markets. Show progress in those things, and let Scott take the time.”