WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, questioned by members of a House congressional committee, repeated on Wednesday that rising world protectionism would over time pose a risk to a U.S. and global expansion that appears largely on track to continue.
Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell testifies before a House Financial Services Committee hearing on the “Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to Congress," at the Rayburn House Office Building in Washington, U.S., July 18, 2018. REUTERS/Mary F. Calvert
“If this process leads to a world of higher tariffs on a wide range of goods and services that are traded and those are sustained for a longer period of time, if it results in a more protectionist world, that would be bad for our economy,” Powell told the House Financial Services Committee. “It isn’t up to us to criticize (administration) policies. But the evidence is clear that countries that remain open to trade have higher productivity. They have higher incomes.”
Reporting by Howard Schneider; Editing by Andrea Ricci
