BMO: Powell's testimony is highly anticipated against the backdrop of tariff escalation

On February 11th, Jinshi Data reported that Ian Lyngen and Vail Hartman, strategists at BMO Capital Markets, said that it is clear that the overall direction of the US interest rate may quickly change as Trump continues to refine US trade policies. Fed Chairman Powell’s testimony on Tuesday will be noteworthy because we will learn how he describes the announced tariff measures and whether these measures are more likely to elicit a response from the FOMC through monetary policy. Our view remains that the larger the increase in tariffs, the greater the likelihood that Powell will postpone normalization until later this year.