WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump announced a temporary pause on tariffs for some countries. The White House said the tariff level would be brought down to ten percent, which is a huge reduction for many countries. Democratic leaders said the tariffs have already caused significant damage to our economy.
The President wrote on Truth Social that the pause would be for 90 days. The exception is China. The Administration is increasing the tariffs on Chinese goods to 125%. In the social media post, the President 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.”
The Administration has been defending Trump’s tariffs even after the stock market started to spiral, uncertainty increased among congressional Republicans and other countries hit us with retaliatory tariffs.
Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary, told reporters this was all a successful negotiating strategy.
“I think what we’ve seen the willingness of more than 75 countries to come in and negotiate I think the market now understands everything they saw last Wednesday was a ceiling and now we have a ten percent temporary floor and I think the market- I’ve been in the market for 35 years, I think we have more certainty,” said Secretary Bessent.
Democratic Senators describe the policy reversal as chaotic whiplash.
“The Trump slump is upon us,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (D- NY). “Whatever he will try to do in the future will not undo the damage. The chaos seems to be a game for Donald trump but it’s really real for people’s lives, their livelihoods, people’s retirement, people’s income.”
“Businesses will not invest in new projects or expand their workforce because they have no idea of what is coming next,” said Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D- NY). “A 90 day pause means they don’t know what’s going to happen after the 90 days. A ten percent tariff is still going to hurt our families.”
