Trump pauses higher tariffs for 90 days except for China, sending U.S. stocks soaring

Rafael Nam

April 09, 2025 / 7:37 am

caption: A trader works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) at the opening bell on Tuesday. Stocks were modestly higher on Wednesday, although investors remained on edge after four days of heavy losses.

U.S. stocks surged on Wednesday after President Trump announced a 90-day pause on the higher tariffs he had imposed on most countries, except for China.

Trump, in a social media post, said he would raise tariffs on China to 125% after the Asian economy had earlier in the day imposed a 84% retaliatory tariff on the U.S. The president added he would still continue to impose a 10% tariff on all other countries, despite pausing the higher reciprocal tariffs he had announced last week.

"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," Trump wrote.

But he said more than 75 other countries had appealed to his administration to negotiate tariffs levied on them.

"I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately," he added.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared over 2,000 points, or 6.1% on the news. The S&P surged over 7%, while the Nasdaq rallied over 9% as of early afternoon trading.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

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