Fed Chief Reports Inflation on the Price of Goods Is Up Due to Trump’s Tariffs

Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell blamed President Donald Trump’s tariffs for inflation increasing on a number of everyday goods during a televised briefing on Tuesday afternoon.

“Total PCE prices rose 2.8% over the 12 months ending in September, and excluding the volatile food and energy categories, core PCE prices also rose 2.8%. These readings are higher than earlier in the year, as inflation for goods has picked up, reflecting effects of tariffs,” Powell said.

His briefing coincided with the Fed announcing its third interest rate cut of the year; the federal funds rate was lowered by 25 basis points to a new range between 3.5% to 3.75%.

Powell’s comment on inflation and tariffs came a moment after he said “inflation has eased significantly from its highs in mid-2022,” during the second year of President Joe Biden’s term, “but remains somewhat elevated relative to our 2% longer-run goal.”

Trump appointed Powell as the head of the Federal Reserve in 2017, but their relationship has deteriorated since then. The president has routinely lambasted Powell, whom he has branded as Jerome “Too Late” Powell for not moving quickly enough, in his view, to cut rates.

He continued to skewer Powell on Wednesday afternoon, soon after the chair gave his briefing. Trump told reporters it was “amazing” how well the economy was performing and how controlled inflation was, considering there was a “dead head” running the Fed. He also called Powell a “stiff” and said he was not too impressed with the “rather small” rate cut on Thursday.

“The rates for the United States are always the lowest in the world, because without us there is no world. Without this economy there is no world,” Trump added.  “You could go to some of these wonderful countries that you think are so great — one reason is because we allowed them to get rich off of us.”

Watch Powell above, via Fox Business.