'Cut rates or I'll halt trade': Trump threat to Fed has big implication for India

Donald Trump, Kevin Warsh (AP image)TOI correspondent from Washington: US President and MAGA supremo Donald Trump has turned his long-running campaign for lower interest rates into a stunning trade ultimatum: Cut borrowing costs, he warned, or Washington will stop trading with countries that have trade surplus with the US.Trump issued the threat through a social media post on Friday after a surprisingly strong jobs report showed US employers added 162,000 workers in August, more than five times the average monthly gain over the previous year. The unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%, allowing Trump to argue that the strength of the U.S economy should justify cheaper credit.“A STRONG COUNTRY MEANS A LOWER INTEREST RATE,” he wrote on Truth Social, demanding that the Federal Reserve have the “LOW