Donald Trump agrees to 90-day tariff pause for some nations however pulls one as much as 125%
President Donald Trump has backed down on tariffs for a host of nations for a period of 90 days, but has raised imports on China again amid an escalation in his trade war.
Global markets surged following the development, but the US treasury secretary Scott Bessent has said Trump will keep 10% baseline tariffs on most countries while escalating action against China.
“I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social media platform.
Bessent and commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said they were with Trump when he wrote the post. “The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction,” Lutnick said on X.
Amid a global market meltdown, the move was seemingly an attempt to narrow what had been an unprecedented trade war between the US and most of the world to one between the US and China.
It comes after China said it would boost tariffs on US goods to 84% in response to Trump’s move to raise the tariff on Chinese products to 104%. This was later raised to 125%. Europe and Canada also hit back on Wednesday with new tariffs on imports from America.
Of China, Trump said: “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.”
China has vowed to “fight to the end”. “If the US insists on further escalating its economic and trade restrictions, China has the firm will and abundant means to take necessary countermeasures and fight to the end,” China’s Ministry of Commerce said before announcing its latest tariff hike.
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