Trump announces 125% China tariff, 90-day pause for others

NEW DELHI: Facing a global market meltdown and a strong retaliation from China, US President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly backed down on his tariffs on most nations for 90 days, but raised his tax rate on Chinese imports to 125%.

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In a post on Truth Social, his own social platform, Trump said he had "authorized a 90-day pause, and a substantially lowered reciprocal tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately." Treasury secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that Trump was pausing his so-called "reciprocal" tariffs on most of the country's biggest trading partners, but maintaining his 10% tariff on nearly all global imports.

He said the pause would apply to 75 countries that had opened negotiations with the US, without elaborating which nations these were.

Moments after Trump's post, US stocks surged. The S&P 500 was up 8.17% in afternoon trading, after being in the red as Wall Street braced for Trump's response following China's decision to hit back at American tariffs by raising duties on US imports to 84%.

While Bessent said the turn of events was "Trump's intention all along", the President himself wrote: "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." Up until the moment Trump made the announcement on Wednesday, the global economy appeared to be in open rebellion against the tariffs as they took effect Wednesday.