President Donald Trump’s rapidly evolving trade war threatens to resurrect an all-too-familiar question for the Federal Reserve: If inflation moves higher, will it be transitory?

US President Donald Trump has refused to say whether the US economy is facing a recession or price rises in the wake of his administration's changes to tariff threats against some of its closest trading partners. Asked if he was expecting a recession this year, Trump said there was a "period of transition" taking place.

Economists say Trump is proving to be an "agent of chaos" with his unpredictable trade tariff policies but a downturn isn't in the cards just yet.