JPMorgan pledges US$1.5 trillion to strengthen US economic security and resilience over next decade

The campaign boosts capital, resources and personnel that the largest US lender commits across sectors

JPMorgan Chase vowed to funnel US$1.5 trillion into industries that bolster US economic security and resiliency over the next 10 years – an initiative that will invest billions of US dollars in companies and hire bankers and other professionals.

The campaign will ramp up the amount of capital, resources and personnel that the largest US lender already dedicates to a variety of sectors, such as rare earth minerals, pharmaceutical precursors and robotics, or ventures developing defence, aerospace and energy technologies, such as drones, battery storage or grid resiliency.

JPMorgan estimated the effort will add as much as US$500 billion to what it would’ve provided anyway.

Chief executive officer Jamie Dimon is launching the initiative amid trade brinkmanship between Washington and Beijing. Last week, US President Donald Trump vowed to impose a 100 per cent tariff on goods from China after it announced stricter export controls of items that use even traces of certain rare earths, as well as equipment and technology for processing them.

“It has become painfully clear that the US has allowed itself to become too reliant on unreliable sources of critical minerals, products and manufacturing – all of which are essential for our national security,” Dimon said in a statement on Monday (Oct 13) announcing the bank’s target. “We need to act now.”

Dimon, 69, has become more outspoken about US security in recent years. The country relies too much on potential adversaries for critical military products, he wrote in a letter to shareholders in May, citing China specifically. In 2023, he wrote that US supply chains for critical products and materials “must be domestic or only open to completely friendly allies or partners.”

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Beyond loans and direct investments, there are a variety of ways big investment banks can provide funding to industries without opening their own wallets. That can include handling stock or bond sales, or arranging third-party financing.

JPMorgan said the US$1.5 trillion target will include funding that the firm facilitates. It noted the initiative will involve its asset and wealth management arm, which oversees client investments.

Last year, companywide, JPMorgan extended credit and raised capital totaling US$2.8 trillion.

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Amid the new initiative, the bank will make equity and venture capital investments of as much as US$10 billion to help certain companies expand, innovate or accelerate strategic manufacturing. The firm said it will also advocate policies supporting those efforts. BLOOMBERG