White House Council of Economic Advisers chair Stephen Miran said the latest consumer-price data show inflation is “well-behaved” and provide no evidence that President Donald Trump’s steep import tariffs are pushing up prices. Speaking after the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% in July and 2.7% from a year earlier, Miran noted that CPI inflation has averaged 1.9% at an annualised pace since Trump took office, below the levels that many economists predicted when the 145% tariff on Chinese goods took effect in April. Miran, whom the president has nominated to fill an open seat on the Federal Reserve Board, added on CNBC that the administration’s “disinflationary policies are working through the system” and that critics of tariff-driven inflation now bear “the burden of proof.” He also said he sees no material price pressure in categories such as new vehicles, which had been flagged by forecasters as vulnerable to higher import costs. Trump echoed the message in posts on his Truth Social platform, declaring that tariffs have “not caused inflation” and asserting that companies and foreign governments, rather than U.S. consumers, are paying the duties. The president defended the levies as a source of revenue and argued that the CPI report strengthens his call for the Fed to begin cutting interest rates. Separately, former St. Louis Fed president James Bullard, whose name has surfaced as a candidate to succeed Jerome Powell as Fed chair, told CNBC he sees only “muted” price effects from tariffs. Bullard predicted the Federal Open Market Committee could start lowering its benchmark rate in September and trim as much as a full percentage point over the next year. Economists outside the administration remain divided. A Los Angeles Times column warned that tariff revenue ultimately comes from U.S. businesses and consumers, while Goldman Sachs recently estimated that companies absorb the bulk of the costs. The debate is likely to intensify as the White House pursues its trade strategy and the Fed weighs the case for easing monetary policy.