{"id":140,"date":"2025-04-09T22:38:12","date_gmt":"2025-04-09T22:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/?p=140"},"modified":"2025-04-12T23:26:33","modified_gmt":"2025-04-12T23:26:33","slug":"another-u-turn-trump-reverses-tariffs-that-caused-market-meltdown-but-companies-remain-bewildered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.soapandseife.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/09\/another-u-turn-trump-reverses-tariffs-that-caused-market-meltdown-but-companies-remain-bewildered\/","title":{"rendered":"Another U-Turn: Trump reverses tariffs that caused market meltdown, but companies remain bewildered"},"content":{"rendered":"

By PAUL WISEMAN and CHRISTOPHER RUGABER, AP Economics Writers<\/strong><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 President Donald Trump delivered another jarring reversal in American trade policy Wednesday,\u00a0suspending for 90 days<\/a>\u00a0import taxes he\u2019d imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China. The moves triggered a\u00a0powerful stock market rally<\/a>\u00a0on Wall Street but left businesses, investors and America\u2019s trading partners bewildered about what the president is attempting to achieve.<\/p>\n

The U-turn came after the sweeping global tariffs Trump announced last week set off a four-day rout in global financial markets,\u00a0paralyzed businesses<\/a>\u00a0and raised fears the U.S. and world economies would tumble into recession.<\/p>\n

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt tried to characterize the sudden change in policy as part of a grand negotiating strategy. But to those outside the Trump administration, it looked like a cave-in to market pressure and to growing fears that the president\u2019s impetuous use of import taxes \u2014 tariffs \u2014 would cause massive collateral economic damage.<\/p>\n

\u201cOther countries will welcome the 90-day stay of execution \u2014 if it lasts \u2014 but the whiplash from constant zig-zags creates more of the uncertainty that businesses and governments hate,\u201d said Daniel Russel, vice president at the Asia Society Policy Institute. \u201cThe Administration\u2019s blunt-force tactics have rattled allies, who see the sudden reversal as damage control following the market meltdown, rather than a pivot to respectful, balanced negotiations.\u2019\u2019<\/p>\n

Trump\u2019s turnaround Wednesday capped a wild week in U.S. trade policy. On Wednesday April 2 \u2014 which Trump labeled \u201cLiberation Day\u2019\u2019 \u2014 the president\u00a0announced plans to impose tariffs<\/a>\u00a0on almost every country on earth, upending the world trading system. The first of his new tariffs \u2014 a 10% \u201cbaseline\u2019\u2019 tax on imports from most countries \u2014 went into effect Saturday.<\/p>\n

At midnight Wednesday, he upped the ante by slapping what he called \u201creciprocal\u2019\u2019 taxes on countries he accused of unfair trading practices and adding to U.S. trade deficits. Those are the tariffs he suspended for 90 days, saying the pause would give countries time to negotiate with him and his trade team.<\/p>\n

There was one exception to the reprieve: He raised the tariff on Chinese imports to a staggering 125%, punishing Beijing for\u00a0announcing retaliatory tariffs<\/a>\u00a0on the United States. That number was adjusted even higher on Thursday \u2014 to 145% \u2014 after the White House accounted for Trump’s previous 20% fentanyl tariffs. Meanwhile, the 10% baseline tariffs on most countries \u2013 a substantial act of protectionism in their own right \u2013 remain in place.<\/p>\n

Companies cut back, delay plans<\/h4>\n

Trump\u2019s ever-changing trade war tactics \u2014 which include earlier levies on\u00a0cars<\/a>,\u00a0steel and aluminum<\/a>, and Mexico and Canada \u2014 have already done damage, forcing dazed companies to delay or cancel plans as they tried to figure out what Trump was doing and how they should respond.<\/p>\n

Some companies temporarily laid off workers after Trump\u2019s widespread tariffs were announced, while there were signs that many firms held off on hiring amid the widespread uncertainty the tariffs created.<\/p>\n