Fed's commitment to act upstaged by Trump's furor

U.S. President Donald Trump gestures with Jerome Powell, his nominee to become chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve at the White House in Washington, U.S., November 2, 2017. - Reuters filepic

JACKSON HOLE, Wyo.: Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell said the central bank would "act as appropriate" to keep the U.S. economy healthy in a deteriorating global economy, but stopped short of committing to rapid-fire rate cuts and drew fire from President Donald Trump.

Powell had barely completed a key Friday morning speech when Trump ratcheted up his war of words against both the Fed chair he appointed, and with China, which earlier on Friday had retaliated to U.S. tariffs with its own import taxes on American crude oil, agricultural products and small aircraft.