Fed's Barkin sees forces that could blunt tariff inflation impact

NEW YORK, June 26 (Reuters) - Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Thomas Barkin cautioned Thursday it was hard to know how tariff increases will translate into inflation in the U.S. economy.

“I don’t think [tariffs] would be as inflationary as a lot of people worry about” because consumers will in many cases reject the price increases businesses try to push through due to higher import taxes, Barkin said before a gathering of the New York Association for Business Economics.

But he said recent experience with inflation during the pandemic and its aftermath makes it harder to know how things will play out going forward.