WASHINGTON, Aug 7 — US President Donald Trump said today the US Federal Reserve must cut rates "bigger and faster” for the United States to be competitive against other countries.

"Our problem is a Federal Reserve that is too proud to admit their mistake of acting too fast and tightening too much (and that I was right!). They must Cut Rates bigger and faster, and stop their ridiculous quantitative tightening NOW,” Trump said in a series of Twitter posts.

The Republican president has for months been calling on the Fed to lower interest rates to support the US economy.

His surprise move last week to impose new tariffs on Chinese imports has thrown the Federal Reserve another curveball that may force it to cut rates more than the central bank had hoped was necessary to protect the economy from trade-policy risks.

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro on Monday urged the Fed to cut key rates by another three-quarters of a point to a full point by the end of the year to bring US rates in line with rates elsewhere. — Reuters