Trump's nominated Fed board member downplays the impact of tariffs on inflation

BlockBeats news, on February 18th, Federal Reserve Governor Waller said that his basic view is that the new tariffs of the Trump administration will only have a moderate impact on prices, and the Federal Reserve should try to ignore this when formulating monetary policy. Waller said that the uncertainty about the impact of trade or other government policies should not prevent the Federal Reserve from doing what it should do, just like the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022 and the collapse of Silicon Valley banks in 2023 did not stop the Federal Reserve from adjusting the Interest Rate, although both events have raised doubts about the economic outlook. Waller said in his speech: ‘I admit that the impact of tariffs may be greater than I expected… But we also need to remember that the other policies under discussion may also have positive supply effects and exert downward pressure on inflation.’ Waller said he agreed to maintain the policy unchanged until inflation falls again. But he said it may be only a matter of time, pointing out that the recent ‘disappointing’ pump in CPI may reflect seasonal data adjustments rather than upward pressure on prices rise. Waller was appointed as a Federal Reserve Governor during President Trump’s first term.