Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell delivered a stark assessment of US President Trump's sweeping tariff policies, asserting they have materially increased inflationary pressures, raised consumer costs and complicated the central bank's ability to sustain maximum employment. Powell's statements, made during a highly anticipated press conference following the Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting, confirmed that tariffs are now a principal driver of inflation overshooting the Fed's 2 % target, a dynamic that threatens both price stability and labour market strength. His remarks emphasised an economic crossroads where tariff-induced inflation may blunt employment growth, forcing policymakers into a delicate balancing act unprecedented in recent decades.
