Federal Reserve Bank of New York President John Williams declined on Wednesday to comment on President Donald Trump’s attacks on the central bank and what it might mean if the president were to somehow remove the Fed’s leader from office.

US economic activity “increased slightly” between late May and early July, the Federal Reserve said in its Beige Book survey of regional business contacts.

"If the recent tariffs announced/threatened go into effect, it will take a few months for that additional boost to inflation to be felt in goods prices and will keep the Fed on the sideline unless the labor market takes a sudden turn for the worse," Ryan Sweet, chief US economist at Oxford Economics, wrote in a note on Tuesday.

U.S. businesses told the Federal Reserve in June and early July that the loss of immigrant labor is adding to their struggles with the effects of fast-changing trade policies as the Trump administration's economic strategies began gaining traction.

June 2025 fiscal flows signal short-term caution and likely SPX declines in July, but liquidity unlocks and Fed rate cuts hint at a strong year-end market.