US producer price inflation unexpectedly cooled in June. Wholesale prices were unchanged in June, marking a contrast with firmer consumer prices for analyzing if tariffs will boost inflation in the months ahead.

President Trump’s comments that suggest he may fire Fed Chaiman Powell as an effort to force the central bank to lower interest rates could have the opposite effect, says Glenn Hubbard, a Columbia University economist who served as an adviser to President George W. Bush. “If my sole objective were lowering borrowing costs, this would not be the way I would go about it. It’s not going to work.”

President Trump has offered mixed comments on whether he’s planning to fire Fed Chairman Powell, but on Tuesday he asked GOP lawmakers if should do exactly that. If he does fire Powell, “We expect, as does everyone else, that it would be significantly negative for markets, likely driving both an equity selloff and a counterproductive spike in long-term yields,” Wolfe Research’s Tobin Marcus and Chutong Zhu wrote in the note to clients.

Fed’s Beige Book highlights tariff risk. “In all twelve Districts, businesses reported experiencing modest to pronounced input cost pressures related to tariffs, especially for raw materials used in manufacturing and construction,” the report said. “Many firms passed on at least a portion of cost increases to consumers through price hikes or surcharges, although some held off raising prices because of customers’ growing price sensitivity, resulting in compressed profit margins.”

Hotter consumer inflation reported for June will likely persuade the Fed to keep rates steady at the July 30 policy meeting, notes a report by TMC Research, a unit of The Milwaukee Company. Leaving the Fed’s target rate unchanged at a median 4.33% will maintain a relatively policy rate that’s well above the year-over-year change in the consumer price index.