The US central bank is "closely monitoring" trade disputes and the implications for the economy, Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said Tuesday.
A day after another Fed official said an interest rate cut would be needed "soon" to preserve economic growth, Powell said the central bank "will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion."
On the trade front, he said in the prepared remarks, "We do not know how or when these issues will be resolved."
"We are closely monitoring the implications of these developments for the US economic outlook and, as always, we will act as appropriate to sustain the expansion, with a strong labor market and inflation near our symmetric 2 percent objective."
That two per cent goal has proved elusive, however, and he said the Fed is looking for ways "to strengthen the credibility of our symmetric 2 percent inflation objective."