Member of the European Central Bank (ECB) Governing Council and National Bank of Belgium (NBB) Governor Pierre Wunsch said on Thursday that United States President Donald Trump's tariff policies make the ECB's interest rate path "more complicated."
"We were going in the right direction. And I was actually quite relaxed," Wunsch told CNBC. "I was like, you know, inflation might be the boring part of [20]25, and [20]25 is not a boring year. But if you add tariffs to the equation, it’s becoming more complicated," he added. The central banker also stressed that tariffs would be "bad for growth" and would probably push inflation upwards.
Wunsch's remarks come after Trump announced 25% tariffs on all vehicles produced outside the US, expanding the list of products affected by the tariffs, since he had previously imposed 25% duties on steel and aluminum worldwide.
