Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on March 19 that the Trump administration’s sweeping tariff expansions may stall progress on lowering inflation this year but that tariff-related price increases will be transitory as they work their way through the economy.
During a news conference, Powell said after the Fed left interest rates unchanged, it was too soon to fully gauge the inflationary impact of the administration’s higher tariffs. It would be difficult to determine how much tariffs influence any particular good’s price increases or if the inflation is due to other factors, he added.
While longer-term inflation expectations are “mostly well-anchored,” Powell said business and household surveys are yielding increasing concerns about rising prices….