#USHouseMarketStructureDraft When the Federal Reserve decides what to do with interest rates to manage the economy, the data usually speaks for itself. Policymakers, for instance, knew they needed to rush to cut interest rates in 2020 as the gears of commerce came to a screeching halt at the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Two years later, when inflation surged to a 40-year high and jobs were plentiful, the central bank hiked borrowing costs to cool off the economy and bring prices back in check.

Those days may now be over.

President Donald Trump’s trade war is roiling business, consumer and investor confidence, threatening to derail hiring and spending while also raising the risk of a recession, economists say. At the same time, the extent of those tariff hikes is threatening to push up prices across the country as the cost of importing foreign goods and materials becomes more expensive.