Interest rates would have been cut, if not for Trump’s tariffs, Fed chair says

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said they would have likely cut interest rates had it not been for Trump's tariffs - (Getty Images)

The Federal Reserve would have likely cut interest rates by now had it not been for President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on nearly every U.S. trading partner, Chair Jerome Powell said on Tuesday.

Amid a battle with the president, who has been pressuring the Fed to cut interest rates, Powell said they had to re-evaluate their plans for interest rates once inflation forecasts went up after April’s so-called “Liberation Day” tariffs.