By David McHugh
The European Central Bank left interest rates unchanged Thursday, hitting pause on rate cuts amid uncertainty over US President Donald Trump’s tariff onslaught and high-stakes trade talks marked by threats of drastically higher import taxes on European goods.
Bank President Christine Lagarde said the current economic environment and the potential impact of higher tariffs was “exceptionally uncertain.” Higher tariffs could slow investment, growth and inflation – or they could be inflationary by disrupting existing supply chains for parts and raw materials.
“The sooner this trade uncertainty is resolved … the less uncertainty we will have to deal with,” she said. “And that would be welcome by any economic actors, including ourselves…If trade tensions are resolved in short order, it will clear some of the uncertainty that we have weighing on the decision-making of consumers, of investors, of, untold enterprises.”
“You could argue that we are on hold, we are in
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