CNN
—
President Donald Trump announced a complete pause on all the “reciprocal” tariffs that went into effect at midnight, with the exception of China.
Tariffs on China will be increased to 125% from 104%, he said.
Trump in a Truth Social post Wednesday said he has “authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately.”
“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,” Trump said in his social media post. “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,” he wrote.
The higher tariffs on China came after Beijing announced new retaliatory tariffs on the United States to take effect on Thursday. The Trump administration has taken particular aim at China’s trade practices.
Trump had “great courage to stay the course until this moment,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday. The administration told countries around the world “do not retaliate and you will be rewarded, so every country in the world who wants to come and negotiate, we are willing to hear you,” he added.
Bessent said the move “signals that President Trump cares about trade and that we want to negotiate in good faith.”
He and and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick were with Trump when he sent his message on Truth Social, Lutnick confirmed on a post on X.
“Scott Bessent and I sat with the President while he wrote one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his Presidency,” Lutnick said. “The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction.”
Stocks rocketed higher on the news, with the Dow surging 2,200 points, or 5.9%. The S&P 500 rose 6.5% and the Nasdaq was more than 8% higher. Markets have been getting slammed by the prospect of the significantly higher tariffs Trump laid out last week.
Trump, however, did not indicate he was pausing the 10% universal tariff on all trading partners, with the exception of Canada and Mexico, that went into effect over the weekend. Therefore, countries that were subjects of reciprocal tariffs will continue to have a 10% tariff levied on them, Bessent confirmed.
Bessent didn’t offer many details on what could happen after the 90-day pause, but he said the administration will continue to have discussions with other countries in the interim. For example, he said US government officials are meeting with representatives from Vietnam on Wednesday.
“These are complicated negotiations,” he said. But having seen the “maximum level” that Trump is willing to go on tariffs, he feels more countries will be willing to give in.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
