President Donald Trump announced he would issue a 90-day pause on tariffs on non-retaliating countries and raise tariffs on China to 125%.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the pause would lower tariff rates to 10%, the baseline that went into effect on Saturday, and would be issued to countries not retaliating against his initial tariff plan. Stocks on Wall Street skyrocketed shortly after Trump’s post.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average increased more than 2,000 points, the S&P 500 increased more than 7%, and the Nasdaq Composite increased almost 10%.
“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” Trump wrote.
“Conversely, and based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the [U.S. Trade Representative], to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he continued.
The pause on the higher so-called “reciprocal” rates comes hours after those tariffs went into effect shortly after midnight. The 10% tariffs on all countries went into effect on Saturday after Trump announced both levies in the Rose Garden last Wednesday.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent briefly spoke to reporters at the White House following Trump’s announcement, claiming that the pause had nothing to do with recent stock market woes and that “this” was the president’s “strategy all along.”
Bessent confirmed to the Washington Examiner that the effective 10% tariff rate for all trade partners, except China, would include Canada and Mexico but said that the president still planned to announce a range of sectoral tariffs “soon,” targeting foreign pharmaceuticals, automobiles, lumber, and more.
He claimed Trump wants to be “personally involved” in the “bespoke” negotiations with individual trading partners and could not set a timeline for when bilateral trade deals might be announced. Furthermore, Bessent suggested that Trump might be willing to maintain a pause on certain reciprocal tariffs or drop them completely in exchange for non-trade-related concessions from other countries.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters the president’s tariff approach was the “art of the deal” in moving countries away from China.
“Many of you in the media clearly missed the art of the deal. Clearly, you all failed to see what President Trump was doing here. You tried to say that the rest of the world would be moved closer to China when, in fact, we have seen the opposite effect,” Leavitt said.
TRUMP’S APPROVAL RATING DIPS BELOW 50% AFTER TARIFF POLICY
“When you punch the United States of America, President Trump is going to punch back harder. In that same vein, we have had more than 75 countries from around the world reach out to President Trump and his team here at the White House to negotiate better trade deals for the American worker,” Leavitt added. “We have been overwhelmed with the amount of requests from countries around the world.”
“For decades, Republicans and Democrats have said that these unfair trade practices are ripping off the American people, are ripping off our country, but nobody has ever done anything to address it,” she continued. “We finally have a president here at the White House who is playing the long game, who is doing what is right for the American worker in our industries here at home.”
This is a breaking story and will be updated.
