US President Donald Trump has urged Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell to cut interest rates and criticised him for being "late."
"This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut Interest Rates," he said on Truth Social on Friday.
"He is always ‘late,’ but he could now change his image, and quickly," Trump added.
Pointing to the decline in energy prices, interest rates, inflation and even egg prices and the increase in employment in two months, Trump said: "A BIG WIN for America.
CUT INTEREST RATES, JEROME, AND STOP PLAYING POLITICS!"
Trump's call to cut rates came before Powell said that the reciprocal tariffs were "larger than expected."
Powell also said that higher tariffs will likely result in higher inflation and slower growth.
"We have stressed that it will be very difficult to assess the likely economic effects of higher tariffs until there is greater certainty about the details, such as what will be tariffed, at what level and for what duration, and the extent of retaliation from our trading partners," he said at a conference in Virginia.
Fed on tariffs
Trump's tariffs risk higher unemployment and will likely cause inflation to rise and growth to slow, Powell said on Friday.
"It is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected," Powell told an event in Virginia.
"The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth," he said, adding that it was "too soon" to consider making changes to US monetary policy.
The Fed's expected pause comes against the backdrop of a small uptick in inflation, with a relatively robust labour market and strong economic growth.
Trump's announcement earlier this week of heavy levies against top trading partners has rocked global markets as investors have grappled with the prospect of higher import costs on everything from shoes to shrimp.
The larger-than-expected measures announced Wednesday stack on top of earlier country-specific levies, meaning that China, for example, will now face a new levy totaling 54 percent.
Other top trading partners will also see higher rates, with the European Union now facing a 20 percent tariff from April 9, and India looking at a 26 percent levy.
The Trump administration has also targeted specific sectors of the economy, recently slapping a 25 percent tariff on automobiles not made in the United States.
