The Federal Reserve is expected to hold rates steady for the third straight meeting today. Investors will be looking for clues from Chair Jerome Powell about the Fed’s rate outlook during his 2:30 p.m. ET press conference, but they will have to wait until the June meeting for the central bank’s next Summary of Economic Projections. Meanwhile, the U.S. trade deficit ballooned 14% to a record $140.5 billion in March, as businesses stockpiled goods to get ahead of sweeping tariffs that President Trump imposed the following month.

The value of imported goods in the U.S. in March totaled $346.8 billion, according to Census Bureau data, continuing a sharp increase that began in January. Nearly all of the $22.5 billion surge in imported consumer goods for March were pharmaceutical products, which the Trump administration is considering to hit with tariffs. The rush may be short-lived. Trump announced tariffs on all imported goods April 2, and ratcheted up his trade war with China. Cargo shipments from China have slowed considerably, with additional tariffs on Chinese goods now pegged at 145%.

• Consumers Expect to Cut Back Spending on Electronics Due to Tariffs

After signaling he would drive a hard bargain ahead of the meeting, Trump opened by suggesting Carney’s recent electoral victory was one of the greatest political comebacks ever. The conversation quickly turned to Trump’s contention that Canada should become part of the U.S. but Trump offered a softer-than-usual pitch for annexation.

China’s central bank said Wednesday that it would cut interest rates and inject more liquidity into the financial system, seeking to bolster the economy in response to trade tensions with Washington. The measures—Beijing’s first concrete steps since President Trump ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods in April—continued the Chinese government’s incremental approach to dealing with economic difficulties. They fell short of giving consumers a strong push to spend, an idea some economists have advocated.

• U.S. and Chinese Officials to Meet for Trade Talks

Amid changing tariff policies, the American economy is proving its resilience. Wall Street Journal reporter Jeanne Whalen joins host Julia Carpenter to discuss how the economy is faring, and what could happen in the coming months.

Time N/A: Central Bank of Brazil interest-rate decision
7 a.m.: MBA Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey
10 a.m.: Online Help Wanted Index
10 a.m.: U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent testifies to House Financial Services Committee hearing on international finance system
2 p.m.: U.S. Federal Reserve interest-rate decision
2:30 p.m.: U.S. Fed Chair Jerome Powell press conference
3 p.m.: U.S. Consumer Credit

3:30 a.m.: Riksbank interest-rate decision
4 a.m.: Norges Bank interest-rate decision
7 a.m.: Bank of England interest-rate decision
8:30 a.m.: U.S. Preliminary Productivity and Costs
8:30 a.m.: U.S. Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report - Initial Claims
10 a.m.: U.S. Monthly Wholesale Trade
12 p.m.: U.S. Monthly U.S. Retail Chain Store Sales Index
4:30 p.m.: Federal Discount Window Borrowings

“America first does not mean America alone.”

Foreign-policy wonks snapped to attention when Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said those words in a speech last month, writes Greg Ip for The Wall Street Journal.

The phrase was last heard in the early years of Trump’s first term. It served to bridge two camps inside his team: economic nationalists disdainful of traditional allies, and internationalists who wanted those allies’ help containing China and Russia.

His second term has started out with the economic nationalists ascendant as Trump has piled tariffs on allies and China alike, while sparing Russia.

But Bessent’s remarks are one of several hints that internationalism isn’t dead. One came Tuesday when Trump, in a mostly cordial meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, played down talk of making Canada the 51st state. Both leaders spoke of renegotiating the U.S.-Mexico Canada Agreement.

Tariffs are pushing forecasters to brace for higher inflation. Consumer price increases likely accelerated in April, Wells Fargo economists write ahead of next week’s CPI report. They forecast a 0.2% monthly reading, after a surprising 0.1% decline in March. That would put the 12-month headline gauge at a four-year low of 2.3%, the economists say. They forecast annual core unchanged at 2.8%. With tariffs now a reality, “we view it as only a matter of time before higher import costs filter through to consumer prices,” they say.

— Paulo Trevisani

• Trade across Canada’s southern border slowed sharply in March as the first of President Trump’s on-again, off-again tariffs came into effect, a slump that for now at least has been partially countered by a jump in trade with other countries.
• The European Commission set out a plan to cut off imports of Russian oil and gas by the end of 2027 as it seeks to sever decadeslong energy ties with Moscow more than three years after the invasion of Ukraine.
• Eurozone consumers tightened their purse strings at the end of a first quarter marked by growing unease about the coming U.S. trade tariffs.
• German factory orders climbed surprisingly sharply in March, reflecting the stockpiling of goods in the U.S. to get ahead of tariffs placed by the Trump administration in the following month.
• Risks to New Zealand’s financial system have increased in the past six months due to an escalation in market volatility amid rising trade tensions fanned by the Trump White House, according to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s latest report card on banks.
• China's foreign-exchange reserves rose $41 billion to $3.282 trillion as of the end of April, the People's Bank of China said Wednesday. (Dow Jones Newswires)

WSJ Pro Central Banking brings you central banking news, analysis and insights from WSJ’s global team of reporters and editors. This newsletter was compiled by Michael Maloney in New York. Send your tips, suggestions and feedback to michael.maloney@wsj.com.