A top Federal Reserve official said Friday that massive uncertainty created by President Donald Trump’s tariffs has caused some businesses to cut back on hiring and spending, threatening to slow the economy, but he added that it’s not yet clear whether the central bank should cut its key interest rate.

From an ice cream parlor in California to a medical supply business in North Carolina to a T-shirt vendor outside Detroit, U.S. businesses are bracing to take a hit from the taxes President Donald Trump has imposed on imports from Canada, Mexico and China, America’s three biggest trading partners.

Stocks surrendered early gains and closed lower after the White House said President Donald Trump would impose promised tariffs on some key U.S. trading partners.

President Donald Trump has pledged cheaper prices and lower interest rates, but an economy transformed by the pandemic will make those promises difficult to keep.

The Federal Reserve’s third interest rate cut of the year will likely have consequences for debt, savings, auto loans, mortgages and other forms of borrowing by consumers and businesses.

The Federal Reserve faces a cooling job market as well as persistently high prices, Chair Jerome Powell said in testimony to Congress, a shift in emphasis away from the Fed’s single-minded fight against inflation that suggests it's moving closer to cutting interest rates.

The nation’s economy slowed sharply last quarter to a 1.6% annual pace in the face of high interest rates, but consumers — the main driver of economic growth — kept spending at a solid pace.

The Federal Reserve is getting some unwanted help in its drive to slow the U.S. economy and defeat the worst bout of inflation in four decades: a cutback in bank lending.

After reaching 40-year highs over the summer, price increases in the U.S. are now steadily easing.

Americans increased their spending by 0.5% in April, a slowdown after a massive gain in March which had been powered by distribution of billions of dollars in individual stimulus checks.