Trump tariff impacts significantly larger than expected: U.S. Fed chair – National [Video]

ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — The Trump administration’s expansive new tariffs will likely lead to higher inflation and slower growth for the U.S. economy, Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said Friday.

Powell said that the tariffs, and their likely impacts on the economy and inflation, are “significantly larger than expected.” He also said that the import taxes will probably lead to “at least a temporary rise in inflation,” but added that “it is also possible that the effects could be more persistent.”

“Our obligation is to … make certain that a one-time increase in the price level does not become an ongoing inflation problem,” Powell said in remarks delivered to a conference of the Society for Advancing Business Editing and Writing.

Powell’s focus on inflation suggests that the Fed will likely keep its benchmark interest rate unchanged at about 4.3% in the coming months, rather than cut them anytime soon.

Higher borrowing costs can help slow the economy and cool inflation.

Wall Street investors, meanwhile, …