Federal Reserve vice-chair for financial supervision Michelle Bowman has called for a rate cut as soon as July, saying President Donald Trump’s trade war would have a smaller effect on inflation than some economists fear.
Bowman’s remarks on Monday come after Christopher Waller, another Fed governor, said on Friday that the US central bank should consider cutting interest rates as soon as next month — highlighting a divide between central bank officials over how they should respond to Trump’s tariffs.
Bowman indicated that she would support a cut as soon as next month as recent data had “not shown clear signs of material impacts from tariffs and other policies” and that the inflationary effect of the trade war “may take longer, be more delayed, and have a smaller effect than initially expected”.