Fed's Goolsbee: Tariffs are way bigger than anticipated

Federal Reserve (Fed) Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee warned on Tuesday that US tariffs, which were far larger than most market watchers anticipated, poses a real risk to US importers who have very few fallback options.

Key highlights

Tariffs are way bigger than anticipated.

The Fed has to take the longer view, not like the stock market, which is volatile.

There is disagreement among firms on how quickly or how much the tariff increase will get passed to consumers, it could lead to bankruptcies of suppliers.

I can't wait for the GDP data to find out the investment impact.

It's not obvious how the Fed would react to negative supply shock.
Sentiment measures are almost cratering, that's a concern.

The relationship of sentiment to spending isn't as strong as before.

Businesses also aren't going to invest when it's not clear what the rules are.

There is anxiety that high inflation will return.