US, 10 April 2025 : US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on higher tariffs on trade partners, but raised duties on China to 125%.
The US president’s stunning u-turn came roughly 13 hours after high duties on 56 nations and the European Union took effect, fueling market turmoil and stoking recession fears.
According to Bloomberg, Donald Trump was facing massive pressure from business leaders and investors to reverse course.
“I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line,” Donald Trump told reporters at the White House on Wednesday when asked why he backed off.
“They were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid. No other president would have done what I did. Somebody had to do it…They had to stop because it was not sustainable. I’m honoured to have done it. Somebody had to do what we did.
Trump, however, announced that he would raise the tariff on Chinese imports to 125% from the 104% level that took effect at midnight, further escalating a high-stakes confrontation between the world’s two largest economies.
Summary: Trump hiked tariffs on China to 125% over unfair trade concerns, while pausing others to protect global ties and avoid broader economic disruptions.