Federal Reserve Meeting Minutes: Tariffs Exert Upward Pressure on Goods Price Inflation

According to a report by Jinse Finance, the Federal Reserve released the minutes of its July meeting, which noted that real GDP growth was moderate in the first half of the year. The unemployment rate remained low, while consumer price inflation stayed relatively high. The slowdown in inflation appears to have stalled, and tariffs are exerting upward pressure on goods price inflation. After net exports significantly dragged down GDP growth in the first quarter, their contribution turned sharply positive in the second quarter. There was a substantial decline in real imports of goods and services, likely a follow-up effect of large-scale early imports in the first quarter in anticipation of expected tariff increases. In contrast, the decline in goods exports was relatively mild, and service exports continued to grow.