Jason Furman, who served as Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under 44th President Barack Obama from 2013 to 2017, warned that U.S. tariffs have reached their highest levels in over a century and could prove more inflationary than initially anticipated, just as markets speculate about potential Federal Reserve interest rate decisions.
What Happened: “I don’t think people realize that in important respects tariffs are now higher & more inflationary than what was announced last Wednesday,” Furman, now a Harvard professor, wrote on X. “Since then we’ve gone from 54% to 125% on China, our 3rd largest trading partner.”
Furman noted these increases “outweigh delaying the increases on 70+ others.”
The comments come amid market volatility following President Donald Trump‘s implementation of sweeping tariffs, which briefly went into effect before he announced a 90-day reprieve for non-retaliating countries.
The pause triggered Wall Street’s strongest rally since …