#TariffsPause

Tariff pause USA: Trump seeks to unite the world against China, calms stock markets

Was it about isolating China or calming the markets? Or both?

Whatever the case, President Donald Trump surprised the world with his sudden decision to escalate the trade war against America's biggest rival and to delay the high tariffs imposed on allies.

And the Chinese president insisted, he would come to the negotiating table.

In swift retaliation against China's decision to similarly match the tariffs imposed by the United States, Trump announced on April 9 that the tariff rate on China had been raised to a total of 125 percent.

At the same time, he issued a 90-day pause in implementing the reciprocal tariffs that had been applied to trading partners with which the United States has trade deficits, including major allies in Asia such as Japan and South Korea.

"Based on the lack of respect that China has shown towards the Global Markets, I am here raising the Tariff applied to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately," Trump said in a post on Truth Social.

Up until that point, China had been hit with tariffs of 104 percent. It had responded with tariffs of 84 percent that matched Trump's announcement of "reciprocal" tariffs of 34 percent and an additional 50 percent for retaliation.