US Fed pauses rate cuts again and warns of inflation, unemployment risks

THE US Federal Reserve on Wednesday announced another pause in rate cuts and warned of higher risks to its inflation and unemployment goals in a likely reference to President Donald Trump's tariff rollout.

- AFP

Policymakers voted unanimously to hold the US central bank's key lending rate at between 4.25 percent and 4.50 percent, the Fed said in a statement.

Speaking to reporters in Washington after the decision was published, Fed Chair Jerome Powell said there was "a great deal of uncertainty" about where the Trump administration's tariff policies will end up.

The US president introduced steep levies last month on China and lower "baseline" levies of 10 percent on goods from most other countries, sparking weeks of turbulence in the financial markets.

The White House also slapped higher tariffs on dozens of other trading partners and then abruptly paused them until July to give the United States time to renegotiate existing trade arrangements.