Trump pauses reciprocal tariffs for more than 75 countries, raises China's tariffs to 125%

President Donald Trump announced a temporary pause in reciprocal tariffs on several countries for three months. He also assured that they will be reduced to 10% "effective immediately." Suspension and reduction that will not affect sectoral tariffs.

The president made the decision public in a post on Truth Social, in which he highlighted that more than 75 countries had contacted the government to "negotiate a solution" and that they had not "retaliated in any way, shape, or form."

The notable exception was China: "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." Hours earlier, Beijing had announced a further increase in tariffs on U.S. goods, reaching a cumulative 84%.

"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."

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt assured at a subsequent press conference that during the temporary suspension, "tailer made negotiations" would continue, that is, with each country, on a case-by-case basis.

Leavitt also remarked that "many" journalists had predicted that the Republican's tariff policies would drive the rest of the countries closer to the Chinese communist regime, but that the calls to the White House showed that the strategy had been a success.

As he took the podium, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent recalled that the administration had warned governments around the world not to retaliate. "This was his [Trump's] strategy all along," he said. "You might even say that he goaded China into a bad position."

Bessent lashed out at the Asian giant, describing its economy as the "most imbalanced" in modern history and "the biggest source of US trade problems." "And indeed they are a problem for the rest of the world."

Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy, added to this interpretation, stating on X that the president had succeeded in "economically and politically isolating the global architect of economic aggression: China" while reforming international trade.

Minutes after the president's release, there was a spike in oil prices. Although they had been giving up more than 5%, both Brent North Sea and West Texas Intermediate had rises of 0.97% and 1.17%, respectively.

Wall Street also showed signs of rebounding shortly after the announcement, with the Nasdaq rising 10.8%.