As Trump has jacked up import taxes, he has tried to assure a skeptical public that foreign producers would pay for those taxes and that retailers and automakers would absorb the additional expenses.
Most economic analyses are deeply skeptical of those claims and have warned that the trade penalties would worsen inflation. Walmart warned on Thursday that everything from bananas to children’s car seats could increase in price.
The tariffs and Trump’s own reversals on how much he should charge have generated uncertainty across the US economy, such that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has held the central bank’s benchmark rates steady until there is more clarity.
Powell has warned that tariffs can both hurt growth and raise prices.
On Saturday, Trump repeated his calls for Powell to cut the benchmark rates.
That could cause inflation to accelerate, but the president has maintained that inflationary pressures have largely disappeared from the economy.
“Too Late Powell, a man legendary for being Too Late, will probably blow it again – But who knows???” Trump posted on Truth Social.
