Trump announces 90-day tariff pause, but hikes China tariff to 125%

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariff policy, just 24 hours after it came into effect, sparking fears of a major trade war, triggering a global market meltdown, and raising concerns of a looming global recession. However, he announced an immediate increase in tariffs on China to 125 per cent, up from the previously declared 104 per cent.

The US President said that over 75 countries had not retaliated against the United States, and therefore he authorised a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariff. The Republican leader said the move was aimed at addressing the alleged trade imbalance with the US.

“…based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States… to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorised a 90 day PAUSE,” he wrote on TruthSocial.

He said that during this 90-day period, a significantly reduced reciprocal tariff of just 10 per cent would be in effect.

However, he announced a steep hike in tariffs on China to 125 per cent from the earlier 104 percent — a move that had already drawn retaliation from Beijing.

“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. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realise that the days of ripping off the USA, and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” the US President wrote.

Donald Trump’s ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on the US’s trading partners came into effect on Wednesday, including hefty duties on Chinese goods, escalating a global trade war. In a sharp response, China imposed an 84 per cent tariff on US goods the same day and vowed to fight the tariff war to the very end.

Further escalating the trade war between the world’s two largest economies, Beijing imposed export restrictions on several US companies and filed a fresh complaint with the World Trade Organisation (WTO), warning that the US tariffs pose a serious threat to global trade stability.

The US President’s announcement of a tariff pause also came in the wake of a retaliatory tariff threat from the European Union. Joining China and Canada, the 27-member bloc said it would launch its first countermeasures against Trump’s tariffs next week, imposing 25 per cent duties on a range of US imports.

Trump’s move is also seen as an attempt to narrow what had been an unprecedented trade war between the US and most of the world to one between the US and China.