Business executives expect tax reform to happen but will cut hiring and investment plans if Congress and President Trump fail to deliver it, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday.
Although business groups still expect that the Trump administration and Congress will coalesce around a plan, “the urgency for tax reform cannot be overstated,” Dimon said on a media call Tuesday for the Business Roundtable, a group of big business CEOs of which he is the chairman.
The group on Tuesday released the results of a survey of its members indicating that a majority thought that tax reform was the top priority for improving the business environment. And they have elevated expectations for investing and hiring, thanks to the promise of tax and regulatory reform.
Congressional Republicans are working toward introducing a tax reform plan later this year, but some critics have complained that the process is taking too long.
On Monday night, President Trump’s legislative director acknowledged that some controversies dogging the administration, such as probes into the Trump campaign’s ties to Russia, have slowed the pace of legislating.
Joshua Bolten, the Business Roundtable’s president, said that “everyone’s concerned” about the Russia investigations and other diversions from the agenda, “but I’d be careful not to overstate that concern.” CEOs remain optimistic even with those distractions, he said.
Nevertheless, the group’s survey indicated that half of CEOs would reduce their planned capital expenditures and hiring if the tax overhaul fell through.
“That’s plans that are on the books that are dependent on an expectation of tax reform,” Bolten said.
