JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon on Wednesday announced a $24 million effort to help revive American shipbuilding, his latest move under the bank’s $1.5 trillion security project aimed at bolstering industries critical to U.S. economic and national security.
The figure includes $18 million in loans and $6 million in grants to finance a new submarine manufacturing facility at the Philadelphia Navy Yard being built by Rhoads Industries, expand lending to maritime-related small businesses and strengthen regional suppliers, JPMorgan said.
“The arsenal of democracy has been reignited,” Dimon told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin.
“People said it couldn’t happen, but here you have Hanwha shipbuilding at the Philadelphia Navy Yard,” Dimon said, naming a South Korean conglomerate with a U.S. vessel-making 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 finance sectors it considers critical to U.S. economic and national security, including shipbuilding. The firm announced an expansion of the program into Europe this year.
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