Fed Says Tariff Concerns Cloud Otherwise Solid U.S. Outlook
- New York Fed’s Dudley says U.S. can’t win a trade war
- Fed says wage gains modest while pricing power ‘scattered’
Beige Book Activity Expanded at Modest to Moderate Pace
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New tariffs and concerns over widening trade disputes cast a shadow over the Federal Reserve’s most recent survey of U.S. businesses even as all 12 regions reported continued robust job growth with few signs of overheating.
“Outlooks remained positive, but contacts in various sectors including manufacturing, agriculture and transportation expressed concern about the newly imposed and/or proposed tariffs,” the Fed said in its Beige Book report released Wednesday in Washington. That concern was later echoed by New York Fed President William Dudley, who told an audience in the Bronx that a tariff war would be a “terrible outcome” which the U.S. couldn’t win.