Fed's Powell says he expects to see more tariff-driven price hikes in coming months

WASHINGTON, June 18 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said on Wednesday that Fed policy makers expect inflation in goods prices to go up over the course of the summer as the impact of President Donald Trump's tariffs work their way to U.S. consumers.

"We've had goods inflation just moving up a bit," Powell told a news conference after the Fed held rates unchanged. "We do expect to see more of that over the course of the summer."

Powell said it takes time for tariffs to work through the goods chain of distribution, noting many goods being sold by retailers were imported months before tariffs were imposed.

"So we're beginning to see some effects, and we do expect to see more of them over coming months," he said. "We do also see price increases in some of the relevant categories, like personal computers and audio visual equipment and things like that attributable to tariff increases."