Don't assume China will bow to U.S. demands, Dimon says

What they're saying: "I would engage with China. I just got back from China last week. They're not scared, folks," Dimon told a crowd of politicians, executives and economists at the Reagan National Economic Forum in California.

• "This notion they're going to come bow to America, I wouldn't count on that. When they have a problem they put 100,000 engineers on it. They've been preparing for this for years."

The big picture: The Trump administration has argued that China has to blink first in the face of crippling tariffs, claiming the Chinese economy can't withstand the pressure of being closed out of the U.S. market.

• The two sides had a brief thawing of relations earlier this month that led to temporarily lower tariffs, but that detente is already derailing.

The intrigue: Dimon's comments about trading with China came in the larger context of his warnings about America's lack of military preparedness for future conflicts.

• It's a theme he's been sharply focused on this year.
• "The military guys tell you that if there's a war in the South China Sea, we have missiles for seven days. Come on, we can't say that with a straight face and think that's okay," he said.
• "We know what to do, we just now gotta go about doing it."