Fed’s Bullard Says Rate Cut May Soften Trade Uncertainty Blow

Cutting U.S. interest rates could help cushion some of the blow from uncertainty about trade that’s likely to prove persistent, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President James Bullard said.

“Trade uncertainty used to be relatively low. This used to be on the back burner. The president has moved it to the front burner -- trade uncertainty is high, and I don’t see it declining any time soon,” Bullard said Thursday in an interview with CNN International. “This is going to be a volatile area of policy at least over the forecast horizon and possibly longer than that.”