JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday announced a $24 million commitment to help revive the U.S. shipbuilding industry. This is the latest step under the bank’s $1.5 trillion security project aimed at strengthening industries critical to the U.S. economy and national security.
JPMorgan said the amount includes financing for Rose Industries’ new submarine manufacturing facility at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, expanded lending to maritime small and medium-sized businesses, and $18 million in loans and $6 million in grants to strengthen regional suppliers.
“The arms of democracy have been rekindled,” Dimon told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin.
“People said it couldn’t happen, but we have Hanwha Shipyard here at the Philadelphia Navy Yard,” Dimon said, referring to the South Korean conglomerate that has a U.S. shipbuilding subsidiary.
The announcement comes as rising geopolitical tensions, including wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, spur governments to rearm and reinvest in domestic industrial capacity.
Last year, JPMorgan launched a $1.5 trillion initiative to fund sectors it believes are important to the U.S. economy and national security, such as shipbuilding. The company announced this year that it will expand the program to Europe.
