While Fed is projecting four rate hikes in total this year, Atlanta Fed President Raphael Bostic said there is “some likelihood I will be moving away from four as a real possibility” due to the development of US trade policy. He commented on the “progresses the way it has been the last couple of days” regarding the trade threats of Trump’s administration to trading partners. And Bostic noted that “the more it progresses in this more contentious way, the more it leads me to feel the risks are on the downside for the broader economy.”
He added that “the disruption that comes from this type of trade war is not going to be good for the cost basis for businesses and it makes me a bit concerned how robust the economy will perform moving forward.”