China will now face a 125 percent tariff, the president announced.
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is pausing the reciprocal tariffs that went into effect earlier in the day for 90 days, while at the same time raising rates for China.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said he “authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10 percent, also effective immediately.”
Trump said that the decision to pause the full impact of tariffs is because more than 75 countries have reached out to White House officials to “negotiate a solution” to the new duties.
Those countries, he said, also “have not … retaliated any way, shape, or form against the United States.”
Meanwhile China now faces a 125 percent tariff, Trump said, in a decision made hours after Beijing said it would impose higher tariffs on U.S. products.
The president said that the Chinese regime showed a “lack of respect” to the world and the United States in how it treats trade.
“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.
Based on his Truth Social post, Trump did not signal he was pausing the baseline 10 percent tariff that went into effect over the past weekend.
Minutes after his announcement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the level will be brought down “to a universal 10 percent tariff” for all countries, bar China.
Trump last week announced a baseline 10 percent tariff on nearly every country and a higher rates for major U.S. trading partners, including China. Beijing on Wednesday announced it would place higher levies on U.S. imports, prompting Trump’s announcement.
Department of Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote Wednesday that he met with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Trump while the president issued the announcement on Truth Social.
“The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction,” Lutnick wrote on social media platform X.
Scott Bessent and I sat with the 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. pic.twitter.com/wNvg8NBnSR
— Howard Lutnick (@howardlutnick) April 9, 2025
By Jack Phillips
