President Donald Trump has just announced that he’s pausing tariffs on most countries, except Communist China.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump delivered a devastating blow to the Chinese Communist Party.
Trump said he’s raising the tariff imposed on China to 125%, “effective immediately.”
The president noted that he’s ramping up tariffs on China due to the Chinese government’s “lack of respect” for “the World’s Markets.”
It appears that Trump is attempting to offer some breathing space to those nations that have been scrambling to negotiate trade deals with the U.S. to avoid the hefty tariffs.
In the post, 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.
“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 has also said he has authorised a 90-day pause on all tariffs for most other nations.
In the same statement, he said tariffs impacting those countries are being lowered to 10%.
The president wrote:
“Based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States… 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!”
Trump’s Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has just issued a statement to follow up on the president’s comments.
Bessent said to “every country in the world” that wants to negotiate, “we are willing to hear you.”
“We’re going to go down to a 10% baseline tariff we have for them,” Bessent said.
“And China will be raised to 125 [%] due to their insistence [to] escalate.”
Trump’s sudden reversal comes less than 24 hours after steep new tariffs took effect on imports from dozens of trading partners.
Wall Street’s main indexes soared immediately after Trump’s latest announcement.
U.S. stocks are surging on a euphoric Wall Street Wednesday after Trump said he would temporarily back off on some of his tariffs.
The S&P 500 was up 7.8% in afternoon trading.
It had been down earlier in the morning amid worries about the trade war.
Stock prices spiked immediately after Trump shared the social media post that investors have been waiting for.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2,476 points, or 6.6%, as of 1:35 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 9% higher.
Huge swings have become routine for financial markets worldwide recently, not just day to day but hour to hour.
Investors struggle to game out Trump’s economic strategy involving short-term pain for long-term gain.
On Tuesday, the S&P 500 careened between a gain of 4% and a loss of 3% for a second straight day of shocking reversals.
READ MORE – Trump’s Approval Soars as Nations Scramble to Negotiate Tariffs Deals
