Fed Chair Jerome Powell said he expects inflation to be “transitory,” a word reminiscent of America’s situation three years ago when the Fed repeatedly urged the public to underplay inflation as it would improve. Conditions did not improve, as we later learned, and the Fed will have a hard time convincing the markets that this time is different.
“It can be the case that it’s appropriate sometimes to look through inflation, if it’s going to go away quickly, without action by us, if it’s transitory,” Powell said. “That can be the case in the case of tariff inflation. I think that would depend on the tariff inflation moving through fairly quickly and, critically, as well on inflation expectations being well anchored.”
Consumer spending is crucial to the US economy. Retail spending in February increased 0.2% after declining 1.2% in January, according to the Department of Commerce, but fell beneath predictions for a 0.6% monthly increase. Total sales from December 2024 to February 2025 rose 3.7% from the same period one year ago, but growth remains minimal.
People do not spend when confidence is low. The University of Michigan’s consumer sentiment survey indicated a 10% decline in consumer sentiment this March compared to February, citing a “high level of uncertainty.”
The National Federation of Retailers stated that February sales had slowed as a direct result of tariff threats. “Consumer spending dipped slightly again in February due to the combination of harsh winter weather and declining consumer confidence driven by tariffs, concerns about rising unemployment and policy uncertainty,” NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said. “Unease about the probability of inflation and paying higher prices for non-discretionary goods has the value-conscious consumer spending less and saving more. But for the moment, year-over-year gains reflect an economy with strong fundamentals.”
Retail is America’s largest employer in the public sector, adding $5.3 trillion to annual GDP. One in four Americans, 55 million people, are employed through this crucial sector.
Naturally, the cost of living is causing much upheaval as people spend more on less and save what they can. It would be ignorant to say that tariff disputes do not have a direct negative impact on the economy. Powell likely coined a new term, “tariff inflation,” which I expect we will hear more frequently.
