President Donald Trump partially caved on his absurd and destructive “Liberation Day” tariffs, announcing on Truth Social Wednesday that he’s lowering his universal tariff on nearly every country to 10% for the next 90 days, while raising his tariff on China to 125%.
Trump wrote:
Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. 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. Conversely, and based on the fact that more than 75 Countries have called Representatives of the United States, including the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs, and that these Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!
Trump’s announcement sent the stock market soaring, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average climbing more than 2,500 points minutes after his announcement.
But a 10% blanket tariff on nearly every country is still insane and inflationary.
“He says a 10% across-the-board tariff still applies to [Ecuadorian] bananas, Vietnamese clothing, and South Korean TVs. And presumably the tariffs on cars, steels, and coming tariffs on drugs still apply. This is a giant working class tax hike—not a pause!” Brendan Duke, a former member of the National Economic Council, wrote on X.
If Trump had initially implemented this 10% blanket tariff on “Liberation Day,” it likely still would have caused the stock markets to plummet, leading experts to warn of coming inflation and a possible recession.
What’s more, Trump’s absurd 125% tariff on Chinese imports will quite literally decimate certain industries—such as apparel, toys, and electronics—which are, for the most part, made in China.
“Folks, a 10% broad tariff on everything plus 125% on China, is a **25pp increase in the effective tariff rate**, even accounting for USMCA exemptions. That’s almost exactly where 2025 tariff policy was this morning. It was just less concentrated on China & more weighted overseas,” Ernie Tedeschi, the chief economist on former President Joe Biden’s Council of Economic Advisers, wrote on X.
Not to mention, Trump’s chaotic policy decisions are unequivocally bad for business, since it’s impossible for companies to plan for the future when Trump changes his mind on a whim.
„This is chaos. This is government by chaos. He keeps changing things from day to day. His advisors are fighting among themselves. You cannot run a country with such chaos,” Democratic Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York said.
To add to the chaos, Trump’s trade representative was testifying before the House when Trump made the unforeseen announcement.
„So the trade representative hasn’t spoken to the POTUS about a global reordering of trade, but yet he announced it on a tweet? WTF! Who is in charge? There is no strategy, you just found out three seconds ago sitting here, we saw you!” Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada said at the hearing.
On Tuesday, one day before Trump’s announcement, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said during a press briefing that Trump was not considering pausing the tariffs.
“The president was asked and answered this. He said he’s not considering an extension or delay,” she said.
And Tuesday night during the annual National Republican Congressional Committee dinner, Trump said he was sticking to his original insane tariffs.
„This time I’m doing what I want to do with respect to the tariffs,” he said.
The lack of clarity has already caused businesses to delay orders of goodsinstitute hiring and travel freezesand even conduct layoffs in anticipation of higher costs because of Trump’s tariffs. Other companies are delaying their quarterly planning, as they have no idea what to expect from the Trump administration.
“Trump tariff chaos continues. A ‘pause’ for 90 days against all save China. So companies will ‘pause’ investment decisions until they know what the hell is going on. Uncertainty is horrible for the US economy,” Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia wrote on X.
Still, Trump’s advisers are taking victory laps following his announcement.
“Many of you in the media clearly missed the Art of the Deal,” Leavitt told reportersliterally becoming a meme mocking how MAGA minions are reacting to Trump’s absurd tariff policy.
“[Treasury Secretary] 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,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick wrote on X.
Meanwhile, House Republicans are doing nothing to stop Trump’s chaotic policymaking.
In fact, GOP leaders are actively trying to block Congress from regaining tariff authority by sneaking in a rule into a budget vote, which says that members cannot force votes on legislation to cancel Trump’s tariffs.
“Americans are hurting, their retirement accounts are getting crushed, small business are desperate, markets are slumping, consumer confidence is crashing, the risk of recession is rising, and Republicans are responding—again—by surrendering their own power to fix it,” Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia said in a statement.
“This is a cowardice of a kind our predecessors in this body frankly could not have imagined,” he added, “and it is a gross betrayal of their constituents.”
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