-
US President Donald Trump has suspended reciprocal tariffs for 90 days
-
The suspension, however, excludes China, which Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said was unwilling to make a deal
-
China has gone ahead with an 84% tariff on US imports
-
European Union and Canada welcomed the reprieve
US President Donald Trump suspended reciprocal tariffs for 90 days except those on China.
Trump had previously announced he was raising the US tariff on China-made goods to 125%. But Beijing has gone ahead with retaliatory tariffs of 84%, now already in effect.
All other countries subjected to reciprocal tariff rates will see rates go back down to the universal 10% rate.
“It took great courage for Trump “to stay the course until this moment,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said. He repeated his earlier statement that countries that do not retaliate “will be rewarded.”
The European Union said it is putting retaliatory measures against the US on hold, also for 90 days. “We want to give negotiations a chance,” EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen wrote on X after Trump announced the pause.
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a post on X that Trump’s 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs was “a welcome reprieve for the global economy.”
Carney said he and Trump had agreed to “commence negotiations on a new economic and security relationship immediately following (Canada’s) Federal election.” Carney was named as Canada’s prime minister-elect in early March, after Justin Trudeau resigned.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said he and Bessent walked into the Oval Office on Wednesday and asked Trump how he’d like to handle the trade negotiations. Together, they agreed that they would single out China.
Lutnick appeared on Fox News on Wednesday, where he provided the backstory on how the Trump administration decided to initiate a 90-day pause on tariffs.
Lutnick said Trump was willing to negotiate with all the different countries that were interested. “And then yesterday, he said he would do it in a bespoke fashion, one by one, individually. And the calls were unbelievable.”
Lutnick said the deals will take some time, however.
“Well, I think the real deals will take some time… but we’re going to start meeting with countries. I started calling them right after we walked out of the Oval Office today, started calling countries, talking to them and telling them, okay, this is the time,” said Lutnick.
