Federal Reserve's Voice: The Federal Reserve pauses interest rate cuts, diverging from the policies of other major central banks

ChainCatcher news, according to Jin Shi reports, "Fed mouthpiece" Nick Timiraos stated that Powell downplayed any speculation about the Fed seeking to ease economic weakness caused by Trump's tariffs through interest 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 reveals the monetary policy divergence between the U.S. and other economies caused by Trump's trade policy, for the simple reason that other economies have not significantly raised tariffs on imported goods. The issues they face are soft demand and employment, but without the inflationary pressures that the Fed may have to deal with later this year.

Moreover, since the U.S. economy has just gone through a period of high inflation, the Fed believes it cannot risk preemptively cutting interest rates to support slowing employment, lest it exacerbates price pressures in the short term. As a result, the Fed's stance differs from that of the European, Canadian, and British central banks. Powell hinted that the Fed would only cut rates if there is evidence of a significant slowdown in economic growth, and it could be a rapid rate cut.