Labor & Employment Law Daily Wrap Up, VITAL BRIEFING—Fed cuts interest rate target, ignores tariff effects on inflation, (Sep 19, 2025)

By Brad Rosen, J.D.

Since retail buyers of imports are not paying significantly higher prices, and sellers are not charging much more for their products, according to economic reports, it seems then that middlemen have taken the brunt of tariffs.

In this edition of Tariffs Insights, Thomas Thompson takes stock of the recent move by the Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee to lower its federal funds rate by one-quarter point and also weighs in on the complex interplay among tariffs, fed policy, and the efforts to keep inflation at bay. With U.S. tariff collections already exceeding $183 billion for the year, Thompson points to textbook economic theory which recognizes the dampening effect on economic growth resulting from their imposition.

Thompson considers disquieting reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which indicate price inflation is running well above its longtime 2 percent target, as well as tepid results in job creation and unemployment. Additionally, Thompson examines the major issue of who has absorbed the brunt of tariffs thus far, and what the longer-term prospects for the economy might be on that score.

To read the article, click Fed cuts interest rate target, ignores tariff effects on inflation.

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