Yet the president has slapped 25% duties on steel and aluminum, as well as cars, and a 10% tariff on nearly all other imports. And China, the United States’ third-largest trading partner, now faces a 145% duty on its exports.

U.S. consumer spending increased solidly in March as households boosted purchases of motor vehicles to avoid higher prices and shortages due to tariffs, but that did little to change economists' views that the economy had shifted into lower gear.

Inflation slowed down in March, going by the Federal Reserve's preferred gauge, showing that price pressures were easing before President Trump's steep new tariffs landed earlier this month. The personal-consumption-expenditures price index rose by 2.