The Federal Reserve's two-day monetary policy meeting kicked off Tuesday, and officials will likely discuss how tariffs are working through the economy.

Central bankers are deliberating over monetary policy and are scheduled to release their decision about their key federal funds rate after the meeting at 2 p.m. on Wednesday. Following the announcement, Fed Chair Jerome Powell is expected to hold a press conference at 2:30 p.m.

Here's what to know about the two-day meeting.

The Fed Will Probably Not D⛎o Anything ... This🧔 Time

The Fed can eitheꦛr lower interest rates to boost the ec🅘onomy or raise them to push down inflation.

So far this year, central bankers have chosen to keep the fed funds rate unchanged at an elevated level. That streak of inaction 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:is likely to continue, according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool, which is pricing in just a 3.1% chance of a fed rate cut Wednesday.

At future meetings, the Fed may be forced to choose whether to fight inflation by keeping interest rates high, or boosting the economy to defuse tariff-induced job losses. So far, the economy has been resilient against the import taxes, which economists expect to increase prices and cost jobs.

It usually takes about three months for shocks to the economy to translate into worsening "hard data" such as the unemployment rate, David Mericle, economist at Goldman Sachs, wrote in a commentary this week. That suggests impacts from the tariffs, which went into effect in April, should start setting off alarm bells in official government data this summer.

Because of that, financial markets expect rate cuts to begin in July.

President Donald Trump Has Demanded Lower Rates

If the ཧFed holds rates steady as expected, Trump is unlikely to be pleas൲ed by the decision.

Last month, Trump 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:took to social media to angrily demand the Fed cut interest rates, increasing political pressure on the Fed's policy committee, which is not under the White House's direct control. On Sunday, he reiterated his criticisms during an interview on "Meet the Press," calling the Fed "stubborn."

"Well, [Powell] should lower them. And at some point, he will. He’d rather not because he’s not a fan of mine. He just doesn’t like me because I think he’s a total stiff," Trump said. "I wish the people that are on that board would get him to lower because we are at a perfect time. It’s already late."

Despite the demands, Trump also said he had 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:no plans to fire Powell, whose term ends in 2026, walking back💛 previous threats.

'Stagflation' Would Be Hard For The Fed To Counteract

In recent speeches, 澳洲幸运5官👍方开奖结果体彩网:Fed officials have said they're concerned about tariffs pushing up prices and unemployment at the same time. If that happens, the Fed would be unable to fight one problem without worsening the other: higher interest rates could cool inflation but slow down job growth, while lower interest rates could help boost employment but stoke inflation.

Stagnant economic growth combined with high inflation, called "stagflation," last seen in the U.S. in the 1970s, can be financially painful. Economists have a stagflation gauge called the "misery index" that combines unemployment and inflation into one number.

In such a case, Powell said the Fed 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:has a playbook: to tackle the worst problem first.