Fed’s Kashkari: Recession prospects depend on speed of trade deals

Neel Kashkari, Minneapolis Federal Reserve (Fed) President, said in a CBS ‘ Face the Nation show on Sunday that recession prospects from President Trump’s trade war will be determined by whether there are “quick resolutions” to trade uncertainties with major trading partners.

Kashkari said: “This is the biggest hit to confidence that I can recall in the 10 years that I’ve been at the Fed, except for March of 2020 when Covid first hit.

“So when there is that kind of hit to confidence it can have large effects on the economy,” he added.

Additional quotes

“In many sectors, whether it’s a 10% tariff or 50% or 100% tariff, it has a dramatic effect on the trade flows and so a lot of my folks that I hear from here are quite concerned.”

“At the Fed, our job is to keep inflation under control so that rate isn’t even higher.”

“Investors in the US and around the world are trying to determine what is the new normal in America.”

“Markets are functioning, trades are happening and so I anticipate that’s going to continue.”

Market reaction

At the time of writing, the US Dollar Index is up 0.11% on the day, trading at 99.89.