Trump Announces Temporary Tariff Relief, Except on China

President Donald Trump surprised everyone by announcing a 90-day break on tariffs for most countries. This news comes after months of his tough talk on trade and just days after markets took a hit from his latest tariff threats. But China isn’t part of this deal. In fact, Trump’s jacking up tariffs on them to a whopping 125%, making the trade fight between the U.S. and China even messier.

Trump was all in on his “reciprocal tariff” plan, hitting tons of countries with steep trade fees. But a mix of shaky markets and some behind-the-scenes nudging did the trick. Word is, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent freaked out over a big drop in the bond market, and that got Trump’s attention. Talking to reporters, Trump admitted folks were “getting a little scared” and said he wanted to keep things flexible while figuring out trade deals.

For most countries, this means tariffs drop to a manageable 10% for the next three months, a big sigh of relief for markets worldwide. Stocks in Asia bounced back fast, and Wall Street’s Dow and Nasdaq had a great day too. Everyone’s feeling a bit more hopeful. But China’s in a different boat. Trump’s not happy with them, saying they’ve shown “no respect,” so he’s bumped their tariffs from 104% to 125% and that’s on top of China slapping 84% tariffs on U.S. stuff.

This 90-day timeout is basically a chance for countries to talk things out with the U.S. over 75 have already reached out. Still, it’s not all smooth sailing. Canada and Mexico, for example, are stuck with their 25% tariffs from the North American trade deal. As July rolls around, the world’s watching to see if this break leads to real solutions or just kicks the trade war down the road.