Fed Mouthpiece: Federal Reserve Pauses Rate Cuts, Diverges from Other Major Central Banks

May 8 news, Federal Reserve mouthpiece Nick Timiraos stated that Powell downplayed any speculation that the Fed is seeking to ease the economic weakness caused by Trump's tariffs through rate cuts. Powell mentioned the word "wait" 22 times during the press conference to emphasize that the Fed is not in a hurry to act. This statement exposes the monetary policy divergence between the U.S. and other economies caused by Trump's trade policy. The reason is simple: other economies have not significantly increased taxes on imported goods and are facing issues of weakening demand and employment, but without the impact of price increases that the Fed may have to deal with later this year. Additionally, since the U.S. economy has just experienced a period of high inflation, the Fed believes it cannot risk preemptively cutting rates to support slowing employment, as it may exacerbate price pressures in the short term. As a result, the Fed's stance differs from that of the central banks in Europe, Canada, and the UK. Powell hinted that the Fed would only cut rates after seeing evidence of a significant slowdown in economic growth, and it might do so quickly.