By Nupur Anand
NEW YORK (Reuters) -JPMorgan Chase launched a $1.5 trillion plan on Monday to facilitate, finance and invest in industries deemed critical to the U.S. national security and economic resilience, including defense, energy and advanced manufacturing.
As part of the 10-year initiative, the largest U.S. lender also plans to hire more bankers and invest up to $10 billion into U.S. companies through direct equity and venture capital investments, focusing on fast-growing businesses and key manufacturers.
The announcement comes as U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration looks to modernize infrastructure and reduce dependence on foreign supply chains, particularly in sectors like pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, clean energy and rare earths.
“It has become painfully clear that the United States 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,” JPMorgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon said.
Trump revived the trade war against Beijing on Friday, ending an uneasy truce between the two largest economies with promises to sharply hike tariffs in a reprisal against China curbing its rare earths exports.
JPMorgan said its new “security and resiliency initiative” would facilitate financing and investment across four strategic sectors: supply chain and manufacturing; defense and aerospace; energy independence; and frontier technologies such as artificial intelligence and quantum computing.
The firm said it had already planned to facilitate and finance about $1 trillion over the next decade in support of clients in these important industries, according to previously undisclosed internal figures, but it would be increasing the size by 50%.
The U.S. government is pursuing deals across up to 30 industries, involving dozens of companies deemed critical to national or economic security, Reuters reported this month.
JPMorgan, which helped put together the government’s deal with U.S. rare earths mining company MP Materials, said in a recent company podcast that the bank was working with the Trump administration to explore more such opportunities.
“We’ve had no less than 100 calls with clients to talk about the MP transaction as well as what this means for other industries,” said Andrew Castaldo, JPMorgan’s co-head of mid-cap mergers and acquisitions. “And we’ve had numerous trips down to Washington to explore those opportunities with the government.”
Dimon also emphasized the need for policy reform to accelerate progress, citing regulatory delays and workforce challenges.
“America needs more speed and investment,” he said.
KEY INVESTMENT AREAS
The four key investment areas identified by the firm have been divided into 27 sub-sectors ranging from shipbuilding and nuclear energy to nanomaterials and secure communications and will include middle-market companies as well as large corporate clients, it added.
The bank said it would establish an external advisory council composed of public and private sector leaders, in addition to hiring more bankers and investment professionals.
It will also expand thematic research on supply chain vulnerabilities and emerging technologies, leveraging its recently launched Center for Geopolitics.
(Reporting by Nupur Anand in New York; Editing by Jamie Freed)
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