President Donald Trump on Wednesday dropped new tariff rates on imports from most U.S. trade partners to 10% for 90 days to allow trade negotiations with those countries.
The president also said in a social media post that he was raising the tariffs imposed on imports from China to 125% “effective immediately” due to the “lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets.” China, which is the U.S.’s third-largest trading partner, earlier Wednesday said it would increase its tariff rate for imports from the U.S. to 84%.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, in a tweet, said that he and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sat with Trump while he wrote out the announcement on Truth Social, “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,” Lutnick wrote.