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LAST UPDATE | 9 Apr
US PRESIDENT DONALD Trump has declared a 90-day “pause” of tariffs on more than 75 countries that he said have not retaliated against his sweeping global levies.
Trump said the tariff on countries other than China would be set at 10%, effective immediately.
“I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%,” Trump wrote in a post on his social media site.
At the same time, Trump said he had raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 125% in response to what he described as a “lack of respect” the country has shown to global markets.
Trump said: “I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately.”
Trump’s social media post did not specify which countries were included in the “pause” but global markets reacted immediately and the value of the US dollar began to climb.
Speaking to reporters outside the White House following his announcement, Trump said he made the decision to change tack because “people were jumping a little bit out of line”.
“They were getting yippy. You know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid,” he said in relation to the turmoil in global markets.
Trump later told reporters the decision to pause the tariffs “came together this morning” and that his Truth Social post was written “from the heart”.
Asked if a deal could still be struck with the EU, Trump’s said that there were deals to be made with “every one of them”, including China.
“Nothing’s over yet, but we have a tremendous amount of spirit from other countries, including China. China wants to make a deal,” Trump said.
Beijing slapped additional 84% tariffs on the US in response to the global tariffs issued by Trump. The US’ top economic rival and major trading partner is the hardest hit country from the White House’s duties.
“They just don’t know how quite to go about it. You know, it’s one of those things. They’re proud people.”
He also said the radical change he intends to bring about through his tariff policies was “going to take a little conditioning”.
“It’s a transition to it’s really, I think it’s a transition to greatness.”
Asked again why he had reversed course after saying there would be no pause to tariffs earlier this week, Trump replied: “I think the word would be flexible. You have to be flexible.”
Later, while speaking to the press in the Oval Office, Trump was asked about the countermeasures adopted by the EU today.
The European Union announced this morning that it was retaliating against Trump’s global steel and aluminium tariffs, but those countermeasures were not in response to the other US tariffs that came into effect overnight.
Trump appeared surprised at the question and said he hadn’t heard about it, saying “That’s bad timing”.
He then turned to his Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, who told him the measures had yet to come into effect and that he expected them to be delayed.
Trump said: “I’m glad they held back.”
Taoiseach Micheál Martin welcomed Trump’s announcement, adding that the EU had taken the right approach and that he hoped a negotiated agreement would be reached soon.
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Simon Harris, who met with Howard Lutnick in Washington today, said that Trump’s announcement would “come as a relief to many businesses in Ireland”.
“I recognise that further engagement and clarification is required between the European Commission and the administration on the detail of this,” Harris said.
Harris described his meeting with Lutnick, which took place just after Trump’s Truth Social post was published, as “timely, valuable and substantive”.
Speaking to Virgin Media’s Tonight Show this evening, Harris defended his attendance in Washington and claimed he had accepted an invitation from Lutnick to meet with him. He said that his visit has been viewed as a benefit to the EU.
“I would imagine the view of my visit has been useful, and not just at an Irish level, but also at a European level,” Harris said.
He added: “It’s really important to engage and we’re very clear right across the government, we’re going to take every opportunity to engage.”
Speaking earlier, the Tánaiste said his discussion with Lutnick included “substantive engagement on pharma” and he outlined “the mutually beneficial role that the sector plays for Ireland and the United States”.
“The meeting with Secretary Lutnick has confirmed my view that there is an openness on the part of the US to engage in such a process,” he said following the meeting, adding that Ireland wants to play a “constructive role” in negotiations.
A statement from the UK Prime Minister’s office said: “A trade war is in nobody’s interests. We don’t want any tariffs at all, so for jobs and livelihoods across the UK, we will coolly and calmly continue to negotiate in Britain’s interests.”
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said Trump’s “strategy” had played out as planned.
“This was his strategy all along, and you might even say that he goaded China into a bad position,” Bessent told reporters at the White House after Trump’s abrupt backtracking.
Bessent added that the markets “didn’t understand” Trump’s tariff strategy.
“The market didn’t understand, those were maximum levels. The countries can think about those levels as they come to us to bring down their tariffs, their non-trade barriers,” he said.
Trump “created maximum negotiating leverage for himself” and the Chinese have “shown themselves to the world as the bad actors”, Bessent added.
Shortly after Trump’s announcement, the S&P 500 surged 6% higher, reversing a brutal run of losses since the US President’s “Liberation Day” tariff announcement a week ago.
In a post to Truth Social earlier this afternoon, Trump had said: “BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before.”
In a separate post earlier, in response to falling stock markets, Trump said it was a “great time to buy” despite Wall Street remaining volatile, while European and Asian markets closed downwards this evening.
Other countries who have been hit with American tariffs, including the EU, are seeking to negotiate with the US but reports suggest that the White House has been slow to engage in talks.
Member of the governing council at the European Central Bank José Luis Escrivá has told the Financial Times that the Eurozone faces an economic environment where some of the “worst-case scenarios” are materialising.
Escrivá, who is also the governor of the Bank of Spain, said the tariffs from the US were triggering a “very significant negative shock on economic activity”. Finance minister Paschal Donohoe shared this view in the Dáil today.
Donohoe, who is also the President of the Eurozone finance ministers, said tariffs will have negative impacts on economic growth in Ireland and result in the loss of up to 80,000 jobs.
Includes reporting by AFP and Muiris O’Cearbhaill
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