Crypto investors woke up to another day of potential declines. The Federal Reserve members are entering a closed meeting shortly. At the same time, Trump has issued a new threat to China, and Fed member Kugler has just made initial remarks. With the meeting underway and the subsequent decline, the details from these initial statements are crucial.
Fed Remarks
The closed session of the Fed began as this article was being prepared. Kugler addressed inflation and tariff issues in his recent statements. Key highlights from his remarks include;
“Tariffs and restrictions are significant factors to consider when predicting inflation. There is likely an anticipated increase in inflation tied to customs tariffs. New tariffs will take effect, and we have already begun to see a rise in prices. Inflation expectations have increased, particularly in the short term. Currently, short-term inflation expectations are moving upward. Long-term inflation expectations remain stable.
So far, economic activity data looks positive for the 4th quarter. There seems to be a front-loading of automobile sales. The first quarter may have shown more strength than we had anticipated. Uncertainty is hindering business investments. Consumer confidence is moderating, which we need to pay attention to.
For now, inflation is more significant.”
As observed, the impact of tariffs and the chaos they bring seem to be largely disregarded for now. If the day continues this way, we could see significant withdrawals from BTC ETFs, potentially leading to further declines in cryptocurrencies. Minutes ago, Trump threatened China as follows;
“Yesterday, China published a 34% retaliatory tariff, in addition to record-high Customs Tariffs, Non-Monetary Tariffs, illegal subsidies to companies, and long-term massive Currency Manipulation; despite my warning that any country retaliating against the U.S. with additional tariffs beyond current long-term tariff abuses would face immediate and significantly higher tariffs. Therefore, unless China withdraws its long-standing 34% increase by tomorrow, April 8, 2025, the U.S. will impose an additional 50% Customs Tax on China starting April 9. Furthermore, all discussions regarding China’s requests to negotiate will also be terminated! Negotiations with other countries requesting discussions will commence immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
From India, Goyal stated: India’s tariff on the U.S. is 7-8%.
