U.S. Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas appeared on Fox Business to discuss the Federal Reserve’s approach to interest rates and the effects of recent trade policies.
Marshall addressed the Federal Reserve’s decision not to lower interest rates, referencing statements by former President Trump about Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve. “Well, I wasn’t surprised, because there’s a reason that President Trump calls him Jerome ‘Too Late’ Powell. Let’s go back to March of 2021, and Jerome Powell says inflation is going to be transitory. It’s 18 months later, and it’s just starting to peak, and it’s not a couple months after that before it starts coming down. So, he is indeed always too late.
“And let me put an exclamation point behind what President Trump is saying. To that average Kansas farmer back home, they have an operation loan of a million dollars. We saw interest rates on those loans go from 2% to 9% and that’s what caused a record drop in net farm income. So, he’s right. Every point matters. And I’m not saying we should drop at two or three points, but dropping at a quarter point or a half point, come on. I think that the economy would dictate that. Now we don’t know what’s holding up Jay Powell, except he’s always too late.”
On trade policy, Marshall highlighted his support for President Trump’s strategy regarding tariffs and negotiations with foreign countries: “Well, I’m going to trust Michelle Bowman, of course. She’s from Council Grove, Kansas, but let’s just think about this for a second. Of all the goods that Americans consume, only about 11% of them are imported. Only 11%. So, let’s just suppose there’s a 10% tariff on 11% of what we consume. Well, my little math says that’s going to be a 1.1% increase, assuming that’s all passed along to the consumer, and you know, it’s not going to. So, I think that these tariffs could cause a one-time hit of one or 2%, but I think the manufacturers are going to absorb a lot of that. The wholesalers are going to absorb a lot of that as well.
“And meanwhile, we’re trying to balance this trillion-dollar trade deficit. So, I think President Trump is right on task. Look at what he’s doing; Cambodia and Thailand today, he’s surrounded China. He’s got Indonesia done, Japan, Australia, Vietnam, the Philippines,[and] South Korea. So he’s going to push China.They’ve got till August.The 12th is their deadline,I believe.So President Trump is doing a good job.”
Marshall also noted how rising interest rates have affected farmers in Kansas by increasing loan costs from two percent up to nine percent in some cases—an issue contributing significantly to reduced net farm income across the state.
The senator cited figures showing only around eleven percent of goods consumed in America are imported products; therefore tariffs would have limited direct impact on overall consumer prices if imposed broadly across imports.
