By Lewis Krauskopf and Suzanne McGee NEW YORK (Reuters) -Investors grappling with uncertainty over the economic fallout from President Donald Trump's tariffs are facing the likelihood that the chaotic trade backdrop means the path of monetary policy remains up in the air.

The Federal Reserve is holding interest rates steady as it navigates uncertainty kicked up by a president who keeps pressuring the central bank to lower them.

Trump's "large increases in tariffs," if "sustained," are "likely to generate a rise in inflation, a slowdown in economic growth and a rise in unemployment," Fed Chair Jerome Powell said at an afternoon press conference.