JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is calling for a sweeping U.S.-Europe trade agreement tied to economic and defense reforms, arguing that stronger cooperation could reinforce the Western economy and transatlantic alliance.
Key Points
- Jamie Dimon has proposed a major free-trade agreement between the United States and Europe.
- He argues that deeper economic integration could increase the scale and competitiveness of Western economies.
- Dimon wants Europe to pursue reforms involving its internal market, capital markets, banking system and defense industry.
- He says the United States and Europe remain deeply interconnected economically, with transatlantic trade and investment reaching trillions of dollars.
- The proposal would face difficult negotiations over agriculture, taxation, regulation, digital services and other trade barriers.
Jamie Dimon is proposing a large-scale economic bargain between the United States and Europe that he believes could strengthen the Western economy and reinforce cooperation between longstanding allies.
In his 2025 annual letter to JPMorgan shareholders, Dimon argued that the United States should work with Europe on economic and military reforms and offer a major free-trade agreement as an incentive for deeper integration. JPMorgan published the letter in 2026 as part of its annual report.
Dimon's Big Idea for Europe
Dimon's central proposal is straightforward: Europe would undertake significant economic and defense reforms, while the United States would negotiate a broad free-trade agreement covering Europe.
He describes the idea as a potentially transformative arrangement that could give American and European businesses greater access to each other's markets while creating a larger economic bloc capable of competing with other major economies.
Dimon also suggested that similar arrangements could eventually involve countries such as Australia, Japan, the Philippines and South Korea, creating a wider network of allied economies.
Why Dimon Thinks Europe Matters
Dimon argues that the United States and Europe remain deeply connected despite recent disagreements over trade, defense spending and regulation.
In JPMorgan's shareholder letter, he described America and Europe as two major engines of the global economy and said their transatlantic relationship reached $9.8 trillion in 2025. He also said the two sides conduct roughly $2 trillion in trade each year.
In a July 2026 interview with El PaÃs, Dimon similarly argued that strengthening the trade relationship should be the ultimate goal and said the economic ties between American and European companies give both sides an interest in each other's success.
Reforming Europe's Economy
Dimon's proposal is not simply about eliminating tariffs. He argues that Europe also needs to reduce barriers inside its own economy so companies can grow across national borders.
Among the reforms he highlights are completing Europe's Capital Markets Union and Banking Union. He argues that a more integrated financial system could make it easier to direct investment toward strategic industries, reduce fragmentation and allow European companies to operate at greater scale.
Dimon has also pointed to bureaucracy, regulation and the difficulty European businesses face when trying to expand across national markets as obstacles to growth.
Defense Is Part of the Proposal
Dimon's argument also links economic strength with defense capacity. He says European countries need a stronger defense industrial base, including greater production capacity and more coordinated procurement.
He argues that closer cooperation between American and European defense companies could create greater production scale and interoperability while allowing different countries to specialize in areas where they have industrial advantages.
JPMorgan has already expanded its own security and resiliency investment initiative into Europe. The bank announced in April 2026 that its $1.5 trillion, 10-year Security and Resiliency Initiative would expand across Europe, focusing on areas including advanced manufacturing, defense and aerospace, energy, strategic technologies and health care.
The Trade Deal Would Be Difficult
A comprehensive U.S.-Europe trade agreement would face significant obstacles. Dimon himself acknowledges that negotiations would have to address agricultural markets, digital services, taxation and regulatory differences.
The United States and European Union have attempted a similar project before. The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or T-TIP, was negotiated during the 2010s but never completed.
That history illustrates how difficult it can be to reconcile the regulatory systems and political interests of two large economies, even when they have substantial commercial ties.
Dimon's Broader Concern About the West
Behind the proposal is a broader argument about Western economic and geopolitical cooperation. Dimon says the existing transatlantic system should not simply be abandoned, but reformed.
He argues that the United States and European countries have shared institutions and economic relationships for decades and that maintaining those links could provide a framework for responding to competition and geopolitical pressure from larger authoritarian states.
These are Dimon's views rather than an announced U.S.-EU negotiating position. Whether governments would adopt such a proposal would depend on political decisions on both sides of the Atlantic.
JPMorgan's Growing European Presence
Dimon's interest in Europe also comes as JPMorgan continues expanding its business on the continent. In July, he said the bank's Chase digital bank had more than three million customers in the United Kingdom and had accumulated $12 billion in deposits in Germany after only a few months.
He said JPMorgan's longer-term ambition is to create a pan-European digital bank and expand into additional major European markets.
The Bigger Picture
Jamie Dimon's proposal combines trade, finance, defense and industrial policy into one broader vision for the transatlantic economy. A major U.S.-Europe trade agreement would be difficult to negotiate, but his argument reflects a wider debate over how the United States and Europe can preserve economic scale and cooperation while facing stronger global competition.
