Tariffs

Wall Street has cheered President-elect Trump's selection of Scott Bessent to lead the Treasury because of his moderating influence and expertise, but his profile as an establishment figure in an anti-establishment administration could undermine his authority.

The global pandemic and stalled trade negotiations have discouraged farmers and ranchers from taking on more debt and made banks uneasy about extending more credit.

A spike in loan-loss provisions dragged down first-quarter profits at the Toronto company’s U.S. unit.

The timing couldn’t be worse for ag and energy lenders as well as global banks, which were all counting on the Chinese market to help bolster commercial lending and fee income.

A smiling President Donald Trump thanked some of the biggest U.S. companies for about 10 minutes on Wednesday at the White House, where he was celebrating his trade deal with China. When it came to JPMorgan Chase, he asked for reciprocation.

The country's biggest bank is leaning more on fee income to offset rate pressures, expanding in selected U.S. cities and laying the groundwork for operations in China that CEO Jamie Dimon hopes will endure “for 100 years.”

But some industry watchers are tempering expectations, saying that the language is too vague to know for sure if China is serious about introducing more foreign competition.

So far farm loans are holding up well, but bankers gathered at an industry conference this week said they are growing increasingly concerned that credit quality will weaken if the U.S. and China don’t reach a deal soon.

Amid concern that an economic downturn is approaching, Greg Carmichael said that banks need to focus on credit quality and not worry about expanding their balance sheets.

Sen. Thom Tillis of North Carolina called for the panel to hold a hearing on what he termed the danger that the Federal Reserve will meddle in the 2020 presidential election.