Trumps tariff plans may derail US inflation progress: Yellen [Video]

US President-elect Donald Trump’s proposals to impose sweeping tariffs on imports could counter earlier efforts to cool inflation, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Tuesday, warning that consumer prices could rise.

Her comments at the Wall Street Journal’s CEO Council Summit come as Trump has vowed broad tariffs of at least 10 percent on all imports, and higher rates on goods from China, Canada and Mexico.

Imposing broad-based tariffs could “raise prices significantly for American consumers and create cost pressures on firms” which rely on imported goods, Yellen said when asked about Trump’s plans.

She cautioned that this could weigh on the competitiveness of certain sectors and increase costs to households.

“This is a strategy I worry could derail the progress that we’ve made on inflation, and have adverse consequences on growth,” she said.

But she defended efforts by President Joe Biden’s administration to impose targeted tariffs on Chinese goods to …