特朗普猛烈批评美联储主席不降息

【中美创新时报2025年4月17日编译讯】（记者温友平编译）杰罗姆·鲍威尔表示，随着关税效应日渐明朗，美联储可以保持耐心。正在力推降息的特朗普总统表示：“鲍威尔的下台还不够快！”《纽约时报》记者科尔比·史密斯对此作了下述报道。

特朗普总统周四猛烈抨击美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔，称“鲍威尔的解雇来得太慢了！”

特朗普的愤怒是在鲍威尔周三发表讲话之后引发的。鲍威尔在讲话中警告称，总统的关税可能会给央行带来“挑战性的局面”，因为这将使央行的两个主要目标——稳定的通胀和健康的劳动力市场——陷入紧张。

鲍威尔重申，美联储在利率决策方面可以保持耐心，直到对特朗普的政策有了更清晰的认识。美联储主席强调，需要确保关税导致的暂时通胀上升不会成为一个更持久的问题，这表明进一步降息的门槛很高。

自重返白宫以来，总统一直在敦促鲍威尔降息。周四，他提到了欧洲央行将降低借贷成本的预期，并表示美联储也应该采取同样的措施。

“预计欧洲央行将第七次降息，然而，美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔，总是迟到又犯错，昨天发布的报告又是一团糟！”特朗普在其“真相社交”平台上写道。“油价下跌，食品杂货（甚至鸡蛋！）价格下跌，美国却靠关税发财。‘太迟了’早就应该像欧洲央行那样降低利率，但他现在肯定应该降息。鲍威尔的下台来得太晚了！”

美联储力求独立于政治影响运作，鲍威尔周三表示，这是一个“法律问题”。他还表示，美联储的独立性“在华盛顿和国会等真正重要的机构得到了广泛的理解和支持”。

许多法律专家一致认为，总统可能无权因政策分歧而解雇美联储主席，尽管这一点尚未在法庭上得到检验。总统提名美联储理事会成员，这些成员经参议院批准，任期通常为14年。总统从这些成员中提名一位主席，任期为4年。

“大家想说什么就说什么，”鲍威尔周三表示。“没问题。这没问题，但我们会严格按照我们的要求去做，不考虑政治或任何其他无关因素。”

长期以来，总统一直试图向央行官员施加压力，但华尔街和华盛顿的担忧是，特朗普将试图以更大程度的方式破坏央行的独立性。

最令人担忧的是，他将试图在鲍威尔2026年5月主席任期届满之前将其免职。特朗普已经签署了一项行政命令，试图进一步控制央行与银行监管相关的职责。（该命令豁免了美联储的利率决策权，利率决策权由央行理事会七名成员和五名轮流担任的地区储备银行行长在每次会议上投票表决。）

特朗普还更直接地瞄准了其他独立机构，包括解雇联邦贸易委员会、功绩制度保护委员会和国家劳工关系委员会的官员。

本月早些时候，首席大法官小约翰·罗伯茨 (John G. Roberts Jr.) 暂时允许特朗普政府罢免两个独立机构的领导人，同时他们在法庭上对罢免提出质疑。

首席大法官自行发布了“行政暂缓令”，这是一项临时措施，旨在为大法官们提供一些时间，以便最高法院全体成员审议此事。

鲍威尔周三表示，他并不认为法院的裁决适用于美联储，但美联储正在“密切关注”局势。

康奈尔大学教授埃斯瓦尔·普拉萨德称，特朗普最近对鲍威尔和美联储的猛烈抨击是“一次令人震惊且深感不安的攻击”，可能会削弱美国在全球金融市场的主导地位。“特朗普对美联储独立性的攻击显然才刚刚开始，这可能会损害美联储货币政策的信誉，并削弱国内外投资者对美元的信心，”他补充道。

特朗普在其第一任期的大部分时间里都在敦促鲍威尔和美联储降息，称美联储主席是“敌人”，称央行官员是“笨蛋”。他还多次威胁要解雇鲍威尔。尽管特朗普最终提拔鲍威尔担任主席，但由于美联储维持利率稳定，特朗普很快就对自己的选择感到不满。鲍威尔后来被拜登政府提名连任美联储主席。

特朗普去年 11 月赢得第二任总统任期后，当记者问鲍威尔如果总统要求他辞职他是否会辞职时，他坚决地回答“不会” 。

当被问及总统是否有合法权力解雇他时，他的回答更加坚决。“法律不允许，”鲍威尔说。

特朗普呼吁降息之际，金融市场正经历动荡。他的关税政策尤其扰乱了债券市场，美国国债收益率一度大幅上升，迫使总统做出让步，暂停多项关税90天。这些债券通常被认为是安全稳定的资产，影响着许多其他类型债务的定价，包括抵押贷款、信用卡和商业贷款。

美联储设定了一些非常短期的利率，然后对金融市场产生连锁反应，但其对 10 年期和 30 年期美国国债收益率等关键利率的影响有限，因为收益率主要由市场决定。

油价持续下跌，近期交易价格接近近四年来的最低水平，反映出人们日益担忧关税可能减缓经济增长，甚至可能导致经济衰退。欧佩克+组织还表示，将从5月开始增加石油产量，这引发了人们对石油供应可能超过需求的担忧。

近几个月来，杂货店里的鸡蛋价格持续上涨，尽管涨幅有所放缓。根据最新的官方统计数据， 3月份鸡蛋价格上涨了5.9%。特朗普没有提及鸡蛋的零售价格，而是强调了鸡蛋的批发价格。自他第二任期开始以来，鸡蛋批发价格已下降了约一半。

欧洲央行决策者周四连续第七次降息，对欧元区经济复苏的乐观情绪已经让位于对特朗普贸易政策后果的担忧。

欧洲央行政策制定者在一份声明中表示：“由于贸易紧张局势加剧，增长前景恶化。”

Eshe Nelson对本文亦有贡献。

题图：美联储主席杰罗姆·鲍威尔表示，央行的独立性“在华盛顿和国会得到了广泛的理解和支持”。Credit…Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

附原英文报道：

Trump Lashes Out at Fed Chair for Not Cutting Rates

Jerome Powell has said that the Federal Reserve can be patient as the effects of tariffs become more clear. President Trump, who is pushing for interest rate cuts, said, “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”

Jerome H. Powell, chair of the Federal Reserve, said that the central bank’s independence was “very widely understood and supported in Washington and in Congress.” Credit…Haiyun Jiang for The New York Times

By Colby Smith

April 17, 2025

President Trump lashed out on Thursday at Jerome H. Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, saying, “Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”

Mr. Trump’s ire followed remarks by Mr. Powell on Wednesday, when he warned in a speech that the president’s tariffs could create a “challenging scenario” for the central bank by putting its two main goals — stable inflation and a healthy labor market — in tension.

Mr. Powell reiterated that the Fed could afford to be patient with its interest rate decisions until it had more clarity about Mr. Trump’s policies. The Fed chair’s emphasis on the need to ensure that a temporary rise in inflation from tariffs did not become a more persistent problem suggested that the bar for further rate cuts was high.

The president has been pushing for Mr. Powell to cut rate since returning to the White House. On Thursday, he referred to expectations that the European Central Bank would lower borrowing costs, saying the Fed should do the same.

“The ECB is expected to cut interest rates for the 7th time, and yet, ‘Too Late’ Jerome Powell of the Fed, who is always TOO LATE AND WRONG, yesterday issued a report which was another, and typical, complete ‘mess!’,” Mr. Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “Oil prices are down, groceries (even eggs!) are down, and the USA is getting RICH ON TARIFFS. Too Late should have lowered Interest Rates, like the ECB, long ago, but he should certainly lower them now. Powell’s termination cannot come fast enough!”

The Fed seeks to operate independent of political influence, something that Mr. Powell on Wednesday said was a “matter of law.” He also said the Fed’s independence was “very widely understood and supported in Washington and in Congress where it really matters.”

Many legal experts agree that the president probably does not have the authority to fire the Fed chair over a policy disagreement, although that has not been tested in court. The president nominates members to the central bank’s Board of Governors, who are confirmed by the Senate and typically serve 14-year terms. From those members, the president nominates a chair to serve a four-year term.

“People can say whatever they want,” Mr. Powell said on Wednesday. “That’s fine. That’s not a problem, but we will do what we do strictly without consideration of political or any other extraneous factors.”

Presidents have long sought to put pressure on central bank officials, but the fear across Wall Street and Washington is that Mr. Trump will seek to undermine the central bank’s independence in a more significant way.

The top concern is that he will try to remove Mr. Powell from his leadership position before his term as chair expires in May 2026. Mr. Trump has already signed an executive order trying to seize more control over the central bank’s responsibilities related to bank regulation. (The order exempted the Fed’s decisions on interest rates, which are voted on at every meeting by the seven members of the central bank’s Board of Governors and a rotating set of five presidents from regional reserve banks.)

Mr. Trump has also taken more direct aim at other independent agencies, including by firing officials at the Federal Trade Commission, the Merit Systems Protection Board and the National Labor Relations Board.

Earlier this month, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. temporarily allowed the Trump administration to remove the leaders of two independent agencies while their challenges to the dismissals move forward in court.

The chief justice, acting on his own, issued an “administrative stay,” an interim measure intended to give the justices some time while the full Supreme Court considers the matter.

Mr. Powell on Wednesday said that he did not expect the court’s decision to apply to the Fed, but that the central bank was “monitoring carefully” the situation.

Eswar Prasad, a professor at Cornell University, called Mr. Trump’s latest broadside at Mr. Powell and the Fed a “a stunning and deeply disturbing attack” that could erode America’s leading role in global financial markets. “Trump’s assault on the Fed’s independence, which is clearly just getting started, threatens to damage the Fed’s monetary policy credibility and unravel domestic and foreign investors’ faith in the dollar,” he added.

Mr. Trump spent much of his first term jawboning Mr. Powell and the Fed to cut rates, calling the Fed chair an “enemy” and central bankers “boneheads.” He also repeatedly threatened to fire Mr. Powell. While Mr. Trump elevated Mr. Powell to chair, the president soon soured on his choice as the Fed held rates steady. Mr. Powell was later renominated to a second term as Fed chair by the Biden administration.

After Mr. Trump won a second presidential term in November, Mr. Powell delivered a stern “no” when asked by a reporter if he would resign if the president asked him to.

He delivered a more emphatic response when pressed on whether the president had the legal authority to fire him. “Not permitted under the law,” Mr. Powell said.

Mr. Trump’s call for lower interest rates comes amid turbulence in financial markets. His tariff policies have rattled the bond market in particular, with the yields on Treasury bonds rising so sharply at one point that it prompted the president to back off and put a 90-day pause on many tariffs. These bonds are normally considered safe and stable assets, influencing how many other types of debt — including mortgages, credit cards and business loans — are priced.

The Fed sets a few very short-dated interest rates that then ripple out across financial markets, but its influence is limited on key rates like those for the 10- and 30-year Treasuries, with yields largely set by the market.

Oil prices have been falling, recently trading near their lowest levels in nearly four years, reflecting deepening concern that tariffs could slow economic growth and perhaps even cause a recession. The cartel known as OPEC Plus also said that it would pump more oil, beginning in May, setting off concern that supply may outstrip demand.

Egg prices at the grocery store have continued to climb, although at a slower pace in recent months. They rose 5.9 percent in March, according to the latest official statistics. Mr. Trump has not referred to retail egg prices, instead emphasizing the wholesale price of eggs, which has fallen by roughly half since the start of his second term.

Policymakers at the European Central Bank on Thursday cut rates for a seventh consecutive meeting, as optimism about an economic recovery in the eurozone has given way to concerns about the ramifications of Mr. Trump’s trade policies.

“The outlook for growth has deteriorated owing to rising trade tensions,” E.C.B. policymakers said in a statement.

Eshe Nelson contributed reporting.