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Trump Team Weighs Virus Responses to Contain Economic Fallout

  • Kudlow, Mnuchin favor emergency rate cut by Federal Reserve
  • Administration also looking at tax cut despite doubts
Emptied supermarket shelves in New York on March 1. 

Emptied supermarket shelves in New York on March 1. 

Photographer: Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Updated on

The Trump administration is discussing a series of steps to contain the economic and market fallout from the rapidly spreading coronavirus, including a push for the Federal Reserve to enact an emergency rate cut and a possible tax cut.

The director of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, and Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin both favor the Fed cutting interest rates before its next scheduled meeting on March 17 and 18, according to people familiar with the matter. Within the White House, a rate cut is currently the most actively discussed economic measure to combat the virus, the people said.