Fed Chair Warns of Difficult Choices as Trade War Rages

WSJ What’s News

The Wall Street Journal

News, Daily News

4 • 4K Ratings

🗓️ 16 April 2025

⏱️ 11 minutes

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Summary

P.M. Edition for April 16. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell warned today that the central bank could face difficult trade-offs in trying to cushion the U.S. economy from the fallout of President Trump’s trade war. His comments deepened a rout on tech stocks, fueled by trade restrictions on chipmaker Nvidia. We speak to WSJ Heard on the Street columnist Asa Fitch about what the rules mean for the company’s relationship with Wall Street. And research projects go on pause at Harvard after the Trump administration said it would stop more than $2 billion in federal grant money. WSJ science reporter Nidhi Subbaraman discusses the implications for researchers and the university writ large. Alex Ossola hosts. How Harvard Ended Up Leading the College Fight Against Trump Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	U.S. tech stocks fall as NVIDIA pays the price for turning into the biggest marketing chip between the U.S. and China.
0:11.1	Plus, Jerome Powell is warning that the Fed may find itself in a tough spot, choosing between whether to focus on inflation or fostering a healthy labor market.
0:20.0	We may find ourselves in the challenging scenario in which our dual mandate goals are in tension.
0:25.6	And how funding cuts at Harvard are already affecting the university's research.
0:30.6	It's Wednesday, April 16th.
0:32.6	I'm Alex Ocelo for the Wall Street Journal.
0:34.6	This is the PM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business
0:38.0	stories that move the world today.
0:46.4	Trade restrictions fueled a tech stock route that deepened in U.S. markets today.
0:51.5	Stocks took another turn lower after Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell
0:55.0	warned that the central bank could face difficult tradeoffs in trying to cushion the U.S.
0:59.3	economy from the fallout of President Trump's trade war. Wall Street's fear gauge,
1:03.6	the CBO volatility index, jumped nearly 9% after falling for three trading days. The dollar,
1:09.4	meanwhile, extended its decline.
1:11.8	Earlier, the Commerce Department had said that retail sales rose a better-than-expected 1.4%
1:17.3	in March from the previous month, and before President Trump's Liberation Day announcement
1:21.5	of sweeping new tariffs on April 2nd.
1:24.4	And a survey of global fund managers by the Bank of America conducted in the days
1:28.4	after that announcement found that almost half of them expected a hard landing for the global
1:33.0	economy in the next 12 months. In the end, U.S. markets ended the day down. The Dow dipped
1:41.5	about 1.7 percent, and the S&P 500 lost more than 2%. The tech-heavy NASDAQ
1:47.3	closed down just over 3%, dragged by NVIDIA that lost more than 7%.
	...

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