The United States government shutdown, which has halted the release of official economic data, could start obscuring the view for policymakers in Japan and other nations that rely on insights from the world’s largest economy to guide their own currency, trade, and inflation decisions.

In other words, what happens in the U.S. doesn’t stay in the U.S.

Global officials warn that prolonged data gaps from the shutdown could complicate their policymaking and increase the risk of errors, especially as countries navigate the Trump administration’s efforts to reshape global trade, according to Reuters.

“It’s a serious problem. We hope this gets fixed soon,” Bank of Japan Governor Kazuo Ueda said at an October 3 news briefing, referring to the challenges the BOJ faces in determining when to resume interest rate hikes.

One Japanese policymaker was even more blunt

“It’s a joke. (Federal Reserve Chair Jerome) Powell keeps on saying the Fed’s policy is data-dependent but there’s no data to depend upon,” the official said, speaking anonymously because he was not authorized to comment publicly.

Bank of England policymaker Catherine Mann noted that while uncertainties around U.S. data and questions about the Fed’s independence exist, they play a smaller role in BOE policy discussions compared with shifts in trade policy, which have a direct impact on prices and export prospects.

She noted that, over time, the British pound lost its central role in the global economy—a process that unfolded over decades and was driven by multiple factors she described as “termites” gradually eroding the pound’s influence.

Finance and economic leaders from around the world are convening in Washington this week for meetings of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.

The shutdown could end at any moment, restoring the flow of data. Yet the episode reflects deeper concerns about U.S. governance and the reliability of its economic information, including Trump’s attempts to assert greater influence over the Federal Reserve and his dismissal of the Bureau of Labor Statistics chief after being angered by a jobs report the IMF cited among the “downside risks” currently facing the global economy.

“Intensification of political pressure on policy institutions could erode hard-won public confidence in their ability to fulfill their mandates,” the World Economic Outlook published Tuesday by the IMF stated.