WASHINGTON — President Trump announced Wednesday that his “reciprocal” tariff scheme was being paused for 90 days in response to overtures from dozens of countries — but duties on Chinese imports would be heightened to 125% due to a “lack of respect” from Beijing.
Trump, 78, told reporters at the White House that “yippy” critics and a “queasy” bond market were factors in his abrupt reversal — after uttering into a hot mic that a massive uptick in stock value has “gotta be a record” as the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed up more than 7.8%.
“It’s up almost 7 [percentage] points, 2,500 points, nobody has ever heard of it. It’s gotta be a record,” Trump told Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) on the White House South Lawn with NASCAR Cup Series champions Joey Logano and Ryan Blaney.
Trump told reporters moments later he pressed pause because “I thought people were jumping a little bit out of line, they were getting yippy, you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid, unlike these champions.”
“I’m honored to have done it and look, nothing’s over yet,” the president added.
The announcement locks in a 10% tariff rate on most imports — excluding specific items such as vehicles, which face a new 25% tariff, and goods from Mexico and Canada covered by the USMCA trade deal — until July 8, giving the administration time to hammer out “tailor-made” deals with interested nations.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent predicted earlier this week it could take until June for the administration to finalize one-for-one agreements with nations on trade and other matters.
“We are going to have something that nobody would have dreamt possible,” said Trump, predicting that individual trade talks with countries would “work out amazing.”
Trump’s sweeping tariffs explained
“A deal is going to be made with China. A deal is going to be made with every one of them.”
He added that “it even takes guts for our country to go through it. That’s why I said, ‘be cool’.”
Asked if he stalled the tariffs on the day they took effect due to a volatile bond market driven by a Chinese selloff, Trump replied: “No, I was watching the bond market. The bond market is very tricky. I was watching it, but if you look at it now, it’s beautiful. The bond market right now is beautiful. But, yeah, I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy.”
Later in the Oval Office, Trump explained that he had his aides had publicly insisted there would be no pause because “a lot of times it’s not a negotiation until it is.”
Trump sent Wall Street into overdrive at 1:18 p.m. ET when he announced on Truth Social: “I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately.”
“More than 75 countries” had contacted the White House to discuss one-for-one trade deals, Trump claimed, but China — which initially got hit with a 34% tariff increase that was raised to 84% at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday, chose to levy the same rate against US goods, leading Trump to escalate the trade war between the world’s two largest economies.
“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 began his 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.”
“We have a tremendous amount of spirit from other countries, including China,” Trump said on the South Lawn. “China wants to make a deal … they’re proud people and President Xi [Jinping] is a proud man … they are in the process of figuring it out.”
The decision to adopt a pause — after publicly insisting there would not be one — “seems like it was all Trump” rather than a recommendation by a particular adviser, one administration official told The Post.
Another insider said Trump’s pivot “caught major players off guard” and came seemingly out of nowhere.
“It’s ‘The Art of the Deal’,” said a third, referring to Trump’s 1987 book, a signed paperback copy of which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left the White House clutching Monday after promising to end Israel’s trade surplus and eliminate all tariffs and non-tariff barriers on US goods.
“He and I had a long talk on Sunday, and this was his strategy all along. You might even say that he goaded China into a bad position,” Bessent told reporters outside the White House following Trump’s announcement but before the president spoke to the press. “They responded, and they have shown themselves to the world to be the bad actors.”
“Trump created maximum negotiating leverage,” the treasury secretary went on, adding that the president “wants to be personally involved” in current and future negotiations.
Bessent said he was meeting with a Vietnamese delegation later Wednesday for talks to avoid a 46% Trump tariff and had attended a Japanese embassy event Tuesday night where that nation’s 24% rate was broached.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said the European Union will benefit from a lower 10% tariff for three months — avoiding a 20% “reciprocal” rate — despite following China in approving retaliatory duties, with Lutnick explaining that the EU’s action had not yet taken effect.
