- Trump says he's backing off on his initial reciprocal tariff plans.
- He announced on Wednesday that reciprocal tariffs would drop to 10% for 90 days.
- Trump also said that tariffs on Chinese goods would increase to 125%.
Trump took the off-ramp.
Nearly a week after sparking chaos in markets around the world, President Donald Trump backed down from most of his original plan for reciprocal tariffs on foreign countries.
"I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately," Trump wrote Wednesday afternoon in a Truth Social post.
At the same time, Trump said that he would by increase tariffs on Chinese goods up to 125%, a further escalation in an ongoing trade war between the two countries.
"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," Trump wrote.
Trump's announcement, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, underlines that the US will only reward countries that did not retaliate against Trump's Liberation Day tariffs.
"What we have ended up with here, as I told everyone a week ago in this very spot, do retaliate and you will be rewarded," Bessent told reporters during an impromptu news conference outside the White House on Wednesday. "So every country that wants to come to negotiate, we are willing to hear you."
Bessent said "everything is on the table" now that countries have the time and space to cut deals with the White House. He said that discussions will include non-tariff barriers, which Trump cited in his initial decision.
Not all tariffs are paused, Bessent said, and plans for pharmaceutical-related tariffs will continue.
Trump said that his decision to back off of the original reciprocal tariffs for countries other from China — some of which were more than 40% — was in response more than 75 countries seeking to enter negotiations.
"The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction," Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote on X, saying that he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had been sitting with Trump when he made the announcement.
Scott Bessent and I sat with the President while he wrote one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his Presidency. The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction. pic.twitter.com/wNvg8NBnSR
— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) April 9, 2025A former hedge fund manager, Bessent rejected any suggestion that Wednesday's pause was due to roiling global markets. He said that Wall Street will now have a clearer sense of what's to come.
"In my 35 years in the market, I always wanted certainty," he said. "So, I think we've got more certainty."
