Fed's Goolsbee: US trade court ruling may extend tariff uncertainty

(Reuters) -A U.S. trade court ruling blocking some of the Trump administration's sweeping tariffs may not clear up the uncertainty that is holding back U.S. businesses, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago President Austan Goolsbee said on Thursday, because the administration may find other ways to impose tariffs.

"If people can't count on consistent policy, then they're just going to slow down and not act," Goolsbee said in an interview on WJR radio. "If this court case ushers in an era where we're going to finally get some consistency, the dirt comes out of the air and we can go back to doing what we were doing before, that would be a positive. If this court case leads to a further extension of, well, if we can't do it this way, we could do the tariffs a different way ... it turns into an extension of the uncertainty, then I fear that would be a little more of a negative."

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Chris Reese)

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