The Federal Reserve’s interest rate setting committee held rates steady Wednesday at a range of 4.25 to 4.5 percent, despite calls from President Trump to lower borrowing costs amid price pressures from his trade war.
Wednesday’s rate hold was the third in a row, following pauses during meetings in March and January, after the central bank cut rates three times in the back half of 2024.
The Fed’s move was in line with market expectations. One prediction algorithm based on future contract prices put the probability of a hold at about 98 percent just prior to Wednesday’s announcement.
Fed officials had also emphasized the sturdiness of the domestic economy and the uncertainty driven by Trump’s tariffs, along with how they complicated plans for future rate cuts.
The pause follows a healthy April employment report from the Labor Department, which saw 177,000 jobs added to the economy, as well as a significant moderation in inflation, falling to a 2.3-percent annual increase in March from 2.7 percent in February.
March inflation was the second-lowest reading in the personal consumption expenditures price index since February 2021.
“With last week’s relatively strong employment report, the FOMC was given a free pass to sit on the sidelines, which they should enjoy upcoming meetings may not be as easy for them,” Susan Hill, senior vice president at Pittsburgh-based Federated Hermes, wrote in a commentary.
President Trump has been calling on the Fed and its chair, Jerome Powell, to lower interest rates and has raised the pressure as his trade war with China drags on.
“The Fed should lower its rate!!!” Trump wrote last week on social media.
“This would be a PERFECT time for Fed Chairman Jerome Powell to cut interest rates. He is always ‘late,’ but he could now change his image, and quickly,” he wrote on social media in April.
To date, the U.S. has had no trade meetings with China, its main rival in the trade war. China and the U.S. have put triple-digit tariffs on each other, leading to a major slowdown in commercial activity between the two countries.
However, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent will travel Thursday to Switzerland, where he is scheduled to meet with Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng. The meeting could get the ball rolling on a trade de-escalation between the U.S. and China. Both countries have been reluctant to make the first move, though Chinese media reported recently that the U.S. “proactively” approached China about a trade meeting.
The economic drag created by the trade standoff has prompted a response from Chinese and American policymakers.
Notably, Trump changed his tune on the economy last week, conceding that tariffs could lead to shortages and spur price increases a point that runs counter to one of his major campaign promises to lower costs for families and households.
The People’s Bank of China, the country’s central bank, announced a series of measures aimed at shoring up the domestic economy, including reducing its policy interest rate and commercial lending rate as well as lowering its seven-day reverse repurchase rate.
The Chinese central bank also slashed its reserve requirement ratio, which sets the amount of cash banks must have on hand, by half a percentage point.
