President Donald Trump, in a Truth social post, has announced a hike in US tariffs on China.
The higher tariffs on China came after Beijing announced new retaliatory tariffs on the United States to take effect on Thursday.
The Trump administration has taken particular aim at China’s trade practices.
“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 USA, and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”
Donald Trump
In the same message, Trump announced a 90-day pause on the “reciprocal” tariffs that went into effect at midnight, with the exception of China, which will see tariffs increased to 125%.
President Donald Trump was joined by his top Economic Advisers; Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, to write his message announcing he was backing off his tariffs for 90 days.
Lutnick confirmed on social media that he and Bessent sat with the US President “while he wrote one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his Presidency.”
“The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction.”
Howard Lutnick
A Reward For Countries Who Chose Not To Retaliate
US Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent said that Trump’s decision to back off tariffs rewarded nations who chose not to retaliate amid a brewing trade war and will allow time to negotiate new trade agreements.
Bessent said that the move “signals that President Trump cares about trade and that we want to negotiate in good faith.”
He noted that Trump had “great courage to stay the course until this moment.”
Bessent said that the rate for countries looking to negotiate with the US would come down to 10%, including on Canada and Mexico. “Every country in the world who wants to come and negotiate, we are willing to hear you,” he stated.
He said that the administration expected countries to come to the President with their best deal as they look to realign global trade.
White House Press Secretary, Karoline Leavitt dismissed concerns about President Donald Trump’s decision to impose widespread tariffs in the first place, telling reporters it is a negotiation tactic, as markets react now to a 90-day pause.
Speaking outside the White House alongside Bessent, Leavitt noted, “Many of you in the media clearly missed the art of the deal.” She added, “You clearly failed to see what President Trump is doing here.”
Leavitt also criticized worries that the tariffs on allies would push countries closer to China.
“In fact, we’ve seen the opposite effect. The entire world is calling the United States of America, not China, because they need our markets, they need our consumers, and they need this President in the Oval Office to talk to them.”
Karoline Leavitt
Leavitt claimed that more than 75 countries called the US to negotiate.
Bessent sought to cast President Donald Trump’s decision to pause new tariffs as part of a longstanding master plan to encourage nations to negotiate.
“President Trump created maximum negotiating leverage for himself. We have just been overwhelmed, overwhelmed by the response from mostly our allies who want to come and negotiate in good faith. We are expecting them to come with their best deal.”
Scott Bessent
Pressed once more on what led to the pause and whether major market volatility played into the move, Bessent suggested that it was a direct result of the more than 75 countries that have come to the White House to negotiate and a function of the time it will take to cut each deal.
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