Trump pauses tariff plans with the exception of China

WASHINGTON, D.C. - President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on most of his new tariffs on Wednesday. Trump also announced a nation that is a notable exception to this rule, that nation being China.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt has clarified that the universal tariff rate for nearly all countries with be 10% with the exception of China.

Some other tariffs from Trump are not affected by this pause, which include 25% tariffs on all car imports to America, 25% tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, and 25% tariffs on many imports from Mexico and Canada.

For China, Trump announced an increase to the tariff rate on goods imported from 84% to 125%.

China has retaliated by increasing the rate of American imports to 125%, according to the Chinese Finance Ministry.

The Chinese Finance Ministry also said in a statement that, “Even if the U.S. continues to impose higher tariffs, it will no longer make economic sense and will become a joke in the history of the world economy.”

At a White House briefing, Karoline Leavitt stated that Donald Trump is “optimistic” that the United States and China can strike a deal over tariffs and that he was ready to be “gracious” about it.

The Trump administration has also confirmed that the United States tariff rate on Chinese imports now effectively totals 145% with Trump’s executive order to increase tariff rates to 125% already being on top of a combined 20% fentanyl-related tariff imposed in February and March.

When it comes to how these events have affected the stock market, yields on United States government bonds have spiked sharply as a sign that the world has been shaken by this trade war between the United States and China.

In terms of the stock market, the S&P 500 ended with a gain, recovering more losses following a major drop last week when the tariffs were first imposed.

Nikolai Wagner is a first-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To email him, contact njw5648@psu.edu.