However, he exempted China from this pause.
United States President Donald Trump has announced a complete pause on all the “reciprocal” tariffs that went into effect at midnight.
However, he exempted China from this pause.
In an escalation of the trade war with China, Trump increased reciprocal tariffs against China to 125%, up from 104%.
This move comes just hours after Trump was quoted as saying that some “countries were kissing his ass, pleading to negotiate.”
Earlier, SaharaReporters had reported that the U.S. raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 104% following the expiration of a White House deadline for China to remove its retaliatory tariffs.
Amid mounting tensions, China vowed to “fight to the end” against what it described as aggressive U.S. trade practices. China raised its retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods from 34% to 84%.
On Wednesday, Trump announced the pause on retaliatory tariffs—excluding China—via a Truth Social post.
He said he has “authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately.”
“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,” he wrote.
Trump, however, did not indicate he was pausing the 10% universal tariff on all trading partners—except for Canada and Mexico—which Reuters announced was being collected from April 5.
According to CNN, countries subject to reciprocal tariffs will continue to face a 10% levy.
His recent move came after the European Commission announced reciprocal tariffs against the U.S.
SaharaReporters earlier reported that the European Union was set to apply retaliatory tariffs on around €21 billion worth of U.S. products, including soybeans, motorcycles, and orange juice.
On Wednesday, EU member states approved 25% tariffs on a broad range of U.S. products — including almonds, orange juice, poultry, soybeans, steel, aluminium, tobacco, and yachts — in retaliation for similar 25% tariffs imposed by the U.S. on steel and aluminium imports from the bloc.
This development followed the European Commission’s announcement on Wednesday that all 27 EU member states assented to the measures.
According to four EU diplomats with direct knowledge of the vote, only Hungary opposed the package, while the other 26 countries voted in favour.