(ABC 6 News) — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell says higher tariffs will likely raise inflation in the coming months.

This comes following the sweeping tariffs announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday, resulting in retirement and investment accounts taking a hit.

Related: Financial expert discusses concerns over tariffs

Markets stayed cold Friday morning with the Dow Jones falling more than 1000 points at opening and only losing more as the day passed.

Powell spoke for the first time on Friday since Trump made his tariff presentation.

“It is now becoming clear that the tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected. The same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth,” Powell said.

Democrats slammed Trump’s policies on the Senate floor, calling out, among other things, the tariffs Trump imposed on a remote island off of Antarctica, inhabited largely by penguins.

“It is unclear to me if the White House even knows what they are doing. They literally put a 10% tariff on a bunch of penguins,” said Senator Amy Klobuchar.

However, the Trump administration is vowing the disruption will be temporary and worth it.

“The President rightly has concluded that the current status of global trade is bad for America and good for a bunch of other people. And he’s going to reset it,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

In light of the tariffs, JP Morgan’s chief economist has increased the risk for the nation falling into a recession to 60%.

Meanwhile, President Trump spent the day in his Mar-A-Lago home insisting the tariffs will result in an economic boom.

President Trump has requested Powell to cut interest rates, citing lower inflation and energy prices on his social media platform, Truth.