Companies still bewildered after Trump's U-turn on tariffs that shook markets

US President Donald Trump delivered another jarring reversal in American trade policy Wednesday, suspending for 90 days import taxes he'd imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China.The moves triggered a powerful stock market rally on Wall Street but left businesses, investors and America's trading partners bewildered about what the president is attempting to achieve.

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The U-turn came after the sweeping global tariffs Trump announced last week set off a four-day rout in global financial markets, paralyzed businesses and raised fears the US and world economies would tumble into recession.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to characterize the sudden change in policy as part of a grand negotiating strategy. But to those outside the Trump administration, it looked like a cave-in to market pressure and to growing fears that the president's impetuous use of import taxes—tariffs—would cause massive collateral economic damage.

"Other countries will welcome the 90-day stay of execution—f it lasts— but the whiplash from constant zig-zags creates more of the uncertainty that businesses and governments hate," said Daniel Russel, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute.

"The Administration's blunt-force tactics have rattled allies, who see the sudden reversal as damage control following the market meltdown, rather than a pivot to respectful, balanced negotiations."