DONALD Trump last night paused his highest rate trade tariffs on much of the world after a battering from the money markets — but turned up the heat on China by raising levies to 125 per cent.
US stock markets jumped sharply after his decision to grant a 90-day pause for countries which had not retaliated.
EPAUS President Donald Trump paused his highest rate trade tariffs on much of the world[/caption]
GettyHe turned up the heat on Xi Jinping’s China by raising levies to 125 per cent[/caption]
The White House insisted the pause gave the President time to negotiate deals with up to 75 nations who had made contact since the tariff blitz was announced last week.
Earlier, Mr Trump said countries had been queuing up to “kiss my ass” to avoid the punishing levies on goods exported to the US.
And Treasury secretary Scott Bessent insisted the President’s U-turn was all part of his plan.
He reckoned: “This was his strategy all along, and that you might even say that he goaded China into a bad position, they responded.
“They have shown themselves to the world to be the bad actors and we are willing to co-operate with our allies and with our trading partners who did not retaliate.
“It wasn’t a hard message, don’t retaliate, things will turn out well.”
But analysts reckoned Mr Trump blinked in the face of a ferocious onslaught from investors — which had seen trillions wiped off the value of global stocks.
Earlier this week, he had insisted a 90-day pause was “fake news” — only to change his mind.
Most countries will now face an across-the-board tariff of ten per cent, a huge reduction for some.
It brings them into line with the UK, whose position is unchanged by Mr Trump’s latest manoeuvre.
For now the President is focussing his firepower on China as he rages over Beijing’s retaliatory tariff of 84 per cent on US goods.
On his Truth Social platform, Mr Trump said: “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 realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”
Mr Trump’s intervention followed another day of markets tumult.
The FTSE 100 was down another 2.92 per cent with Paris CAC 40 losing 3.3 per cent and Germany’s DAX down three per cent.
More worryingly, a sharp sell-off in bond markets sparked comparisons to former PM Liz Truss’s mini-Budget meltdown.
Jamie Dimon, chief exec of JP Morgan, warned a recession was the most likely outcome of the tariff war.
Initially, Mr Trump put out a “BE COOL” message on Truth Social.
He added: “Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before.”
His administration insisted the pause was not the result of bowing to markets pressure.
But US stock markets surged on the news. Almost instantly, the Nasdaq jumped by 9.89 per cent, the S&P by 6.8 per cent and the Dow Jones by 6.7 per cent.
NYSE stockbroker Peter Tuchman declared: “Wow, US stocks added $4trillion in 10 minutes.”
The reprieve will be a blessing for the world’s poorer countries, such as vanilla-exporting Madagascar, which runs a trade surplus to the US but has been hit with 47 per cent tariffs.
It comes after lobbying from Trump-supporting US billionaires, including financier Bill Ackman, who had suggested a ten per cent across the board tariff.
He posted online: “Thank you on behalf of all Americans.”
Billionaire pals’ pain
A BILLIONAIRE boys’ club suffered a bloodbath prior to Trump’s tariff pause — heaping pressure on the President to change course:
JEFF BEZOS: Worth $196bn. Lost $43bn.
China drives huge volumes of business to Amazon. Its cloud services business relies on tech from tariff-hit Taiwan.
ELON MUSK: Worth $298bn. Lost $135bn.
A consumer backlash has dented sales of his Tesla cars, which also rely heavily on Chinese parts.
MARK ZUCKERBERG: Worth $183bn. Lost $25bn.
Meta stock has slumped by 15 per cent this year.
BERNARD ARNAULT: Worth $150bn. Lost $26bn.
His Louis Vuitton brand relies on wealthy shoppers in the US and China.
Published: [#item_custom_pubDate]
