Updated April 09, 2025 at 14:57 PM ET
President Trump abruptly announced on Wednesday that he would pause big hikes on tariffs for most countries for 90 days, except for China.
Most countries will be left with 10% tariffs on their exports to the United States, while China — which had retaliated against Trump's moves — will now face tariffs of 125%.
The decision, announced on social media in the middle of the trading day, caused stock prices to soar. But in a hastily arranged gaggle with reporters outside the White House, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted that the market chaos caused by Trump's hefty tariffs was not the reason for the policy shift.
"This was driven by the president's strategy. He and I had a long talk on Sunday, and this was his strategy all along," Bessent told reporters.
"It took great courage — great courage — for him [Trump] to stay the course until this moment."
Bessent said Trump's steep "reciprocal tariffs" had brought more than 75 countries to seek deals with the United States, and said that the White House would pursue "bespoke" arrangements with each of them in coming weeks.
"It is going to take some time, and President Trump wants to be personally involved. So that's why we're getting the 90-day pause," he said.
Bessent said that a range of issues would be on the table during talks with other countries, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) deals, non-tariff trade barriers, currency policies and subsidies. He said he has a meeting with Vietnamese officials today.
Bessent said China was the "biggest source" of trade issues for the United States and the rest of the world.
"I'm not calling it a trade war, but I'm saying that China has escalated, and President Trump responded very courageously to that, and we are going to work on a solution with our trading partners," he said.
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