Jamie Dimon: Tax cuts shift American business into high-gear
JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said on Tuesday America is back in business thanks to tax reform.
Congress passed a sweeping overhaul of the U.S. tax system in December, aiming to create a more attractive environment for business by shifting to a territorial system and reducing the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Dimon said cutting the corporate rate will create jobs, boost incomes and create competition in America.
“You’re going to see companies doing things in the short run like increasing wages and a bunch of stuff like that, or one-time bonuses,” Dimon told FOX Business’ Maria Bartiromo on “Mornings with Maria.” “We may do something, we’ll announce it sometime later, but over time that retained capital will be used to grow businesses, R&D, hire people, wages, competition and over time that will be very good for America.”
Some of America’s biggest companies including Wells Fargo (NYSE:WFC), Boeing (NYSE:BA), JetBlue (NASDAQ:JBLU) and Comcast (NASDAQ:CMSCA) have launched initiatives to benefit employees as a result of the tax legislation. While Dimon is unsure how the company would repatriate the extra money, he is focused on stimulating growth.
“We’re going to consider a whole bunch of different things,” he said, “but also around helping accelerate growth in America like small businesses, like branches, like affordable housing, things like that which I think have a double effect.”
With a lower tax rate comes more competition among businesses, but in Dimon’s opinion, over time a competitive tax system is “good for America.”
“It will be a very competitive environment so it will become kind of a one-time benefit and, not one time, but it will go up and be competed away,” he said. “But people should remember, when we say that, that means it is going to go to a better pricing to consumers, more innovation, more R&D or higher wages, that’s what competed away and that’s exactly what Americans want.”