Kugler: China deal may have lowered tariff shock, changed need for Fed to respond

DUBLIN, May 12 (Reuters) - The deal between the U.S. and China to lower the most aggressive import tariffs could lessen the impact of the ongoing trade conflict between the countries and lower the need for the Fed to respond, Fed governor Adriana Kugler said on Monday.

"I still expect an increase in prices and a slowdown in the economy," Kugler said in comments at an economic symposium in Ireland, but "not to the same extent as before ... My basic outlook, in some sense, has changed in terms of the extent to which we need to use our tools" to ease rates and buttress a possible economic slowdown.