President Donald Trump predicted Tuesday that China’s next move in the trade war will be a rate cut, and he pushed the Federal Reserve to follow suit in what he said would lead to a clear victory for the U.S.
In a tweet that amounted to the latest salvo in the tariff dispute between the two nations, the president ramped up his pressure on the Fed to ease monetary policy.
He said that should the central bank meet a China rate cut with one of its own, that would be “game over, we win!”
The White House and Beijing have hit an impasse in their ongoing trade negotiations. Washington is looking for a lowering of barriers into China and for the nation to halt the theft of intellectual property. As recent talks stalled, China announced Monday that it would slap a round of tariffs on $60 billion of American goods.
Trump’s Tuesday remarks come amid market volatility spurred by uncertainty over the direction of the talks and how long they might continue before a solution is reached.
In earlier tweets, Trump insisted that he will only accept a “great deal” for the U.S.
Along with the heat he has placed on China, Trump has leaned hard on the Fed to cut its benchmark interest rate. The central bank raised rates four times in 2018, but markets now are pricing in a rate cut as soon as October.
Minneapolis Fed President Neel Kashkari told CNBC on Monday that he thinks monetary policy for now is correct.
