US Economy In Favorable Place Despite Trade Policy Weakening Manufacturing - Fed Chair

The US economy continues to perform well despite risks that include uncertainty over a trade policy that has played a role in weak manufacturing and capital spending, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell said at a symposium in Kansas on Friday

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd August, 2019) The US economy continues to perform well despite risks that include uncertainty over a trade policy that has played a role in weak manufacturing and capital spending, Federal Reserve (Fed) Chairman Jerome Powell said at a symposium in Kansas on Friday.

"Our economy is now in a favorable place... in the face of significant risks," Powell said. "Trade policy uncertainty seems to be playing a role in the global slowdown and in weak manufacturing and capital spending in the United States."

On a day when China announced tariffs on $75 billion in American goods in an escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing, Powell emphasized that setting trade policy is the business of Congress and the Administration, not the Fed.

"While monetary policy is a powerful tool that works to support consumer spending, business investment, and public confidence, it cannot provide a settled rulebook for international trade, Powell said.

He added that there are no recent precedents to guide any policy response to the "current situation."

In principle, anything that affects the outlook for employment and inflation could also affect monetary policy, and that could include uncertainty about trade policy, Powell added.