WASHINGTON — President Trump said on Wednesday that he has authorized a 90-day pause in the higher tariffs for most countries he announced last week — while maintaining a 10% baseline tariff across the board.
The pause would not apply to China — on which Trump said he was raising the U.S. tariff to 125% because, unlike other countries, Bessent said, it was unwilling to make a deal.
Trump’s said the reason for his decision to pause the full effect of tariffs on the fact that “more than 75 Countries” have contacted U.S. officials to negotiate trade imbalance issues. Those negotiations will continue during the pause.
Trump also said in a social media post that he was raising the tariffs imposed on imports from China to 125% “effective immediately” due to the “lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets.”
The S&P 500 rose more than 9% after the announcement, but economists warned that American importers were not out of danger.