Federal Reserve officials hinted that the economy is one step closer to launching debt reduction, but Chairman Jerome Powell pointed out that there is still some way to go before meeting the reduction conditions. He said at a press conference after the monetary policy meeting on Wednesday, "We are not yet at that stage. I think it will take some time." The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) kept the benchmark interest rate close to zero and stated that it would maintain a monthly asset purchase scale of US$120 billion until employment and inflation achieved “substantial further progress” towards the target.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) announced on Wednesday the establishment of a permanent repurchase agreement tool to support the effective implementation of monetary policy and smooth market operations. The Fed stated in its statement that these two permanent instruments are for domestic and overseas, and will serve as the backing of the currency market. Prior to this, there have been many years of discussions within the market on whether these tools are needed and in what form. The Federal Reserve has previously had temporary repurchase tools.

After the U.S. economic output returns to the level before the epidemic, its strongest GDP growth rate in history may not reappear. Driven by vaccination, service industry demand blowout, and government and Federal Reserve stimulus measures, US economic growth is expected to maintain rapid growth in the second quarter.

The US merchandise trade deficit widened to the second largest ever in June, reflecting the increase in imports of commodities such as oil. Data from the Ministry of Commerce on Wednesday showed that the merchandise trade deficit in June was 91.2 billion U.S. dollars, higher than May's 88.2 billion U.S. dollars. Economists surveyed by Bloomberg expected a median deficit of $88 billion. Imports rose 1.5% in June to a record US$236.7 billion, due to a surge in imports of industrial products such as petroleum. Crude oil futures rose 11% in June, surpassing $74 a barrel, rising for the third consecutive month. Exports in June rose by 0.3% to 145.5 billion U.S. dollars.

US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimundo refuted the view that the recent surge in inflation will continue, saying that it is mainly related to economic reopening and supply bottlenecks. “There are not many signs of lasting long-term inflation,” Raimundo said in an interview with Bloomberg editors and reporters in Washington on Wednesday. She said that more than 70% of the recent price increases have come from product categories directly related to the pandemic, such as chip shortages that have caused car prices to rise.

US Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said that President Joe Biden will decide whether to allocate part of the $52 billion special fund to alleviate the shortage of chip supply to foreign chip manufacturers. In an interview with Bloomberg News editors and reporters in Washington on Wednesday, Raimondo said that after the government's internal policy discussions are over, Biden will decide whether to allocate funds only to companies headquartered in the United States.

The union leader of the Escondida copper mine in Chile called on workers to reject the final wage proposal of the miner BHP Billiton, which raised the possibility of a strike in the world's largest copper mine amid tight global supply and high copper prices.

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