Tom Howell Jr. | April 9, 2025

(The Washington Times) — President Trump on Wednesday said he’s pausing his reciprocal tariffs on nations that didn’t retaliate against the U.S. for 90 days, a notable concession as his trade plan threatened to broil the trade war.

Mr. Trump said the tariffs on those nations would drop to 10%, placing them in line with his blanket tariff level on all imports. The White House said Canada and Mexico would face the same tariff of 10%.

At the same time, Mr. Trump said he’s increasing the tariff rate on China to 125%, effective immediately, citing Beijing’s move to retaliate and increase its levy on U.S. goods from 34% to 84%.

“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,” Mr. Trump wrote.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average and other major indexes soared on the news.

In granting the pause, Mr. Trump said 75 nations had approached his administration to negotiate a reduction in trade barriers against the U.S.

“We’ve just been overwhelmed — overwhelmed by a response from mostly our allies who want to come and negotiate. So we are expecting them to come with their best deal,” Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told White House reporters.

However, there had been growing unease on Wall Street and among congressional Republicans that the tariff plan went too far or didn’t have a clear endgame. The reciprocal tariffs had gone into effect Wednesday, meaning they didn’t last a day before Mr. Trump’s pause.

“Trump blinked,” Rep. Steven Horsford, Nevada Democrat, told U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, who’d spent hours testifying to the House Ways and Means Committee about the tariffs before Mr. Trump’s announcement.

“This is amateur hour, and it needs to stop,” Mr. Horsford said.

Lawmakers, businesses and investors have spent days trying to digest Mr. Trump’s decision to issue a 10% tariff on all imports and heftier “reciprocal” levies on countries with far more exports to the U.S. than imports from American producers.

An Economist/YouGov poll released Wednesday found 56% of Americans believe Mr. Trump’s tariff efforts have “gone too far,” while only 27% said they’ve “been about right.”

Even some conservatives worried the economic gains from the reciprocal levies wouldn’t be worth the pain.

Senate Republicans on Tuesday said they were alarmed to see Mr. Trump is not considering exclusions for certain industries, and warned Mr. Greer that some U.S. businesses could go bankrupt from the levies.

Sen. Rand Paul, Kentucky Republican, is warning that tariffs are taxes on Americans, and Sen. Ted Cruz, Texas Republican, said on his podcast the GOP could face a “bloodbath” in 2026 if the tariff plan leads to a recession.

“You would face a Democrat House, and you might even face a Democrat Senate,” Mr. Cruz said.

Sen. Charles E. Grassley, Iowa Republican, cosponsored a bipartisan bill that would let Congress rein in the president’s ability to impose tariffs and Rep. Don Bacon, Nebraska Republican, is leading similar legislation in the House.

Democrats, meanwhile, said the Biden administration handed Mr. Trump a relatively strong economy, only for the current president to squander it.

“It’s only taken him 79 days to inflict this permanent damage,” said Rep. Richard Neal, Massachusetts Democrat. “Recession odds are getting higher by the day.”

Mr. Greer defended Mr. Trump’s work during his second straight day of testimony on Capitol Hill. He said trade deficits are a national emergency and Mr. Trump is taking bold action to restore U.S. manufacturing, while reducing the impediments that foreign nations use to block U.S.-made goods.

“There are a lot of countries that understand exactly what the problem is that the president has set out and are willing to talk to us and are willing to negotiate,” Mr. Greer said.

House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith praised the administration for trying to correct a system in which, too often, American jobs are shipped off to places like Mexico.

“Changing course and undoing the damage caused by years of unbalanced trade relationships won’t happen overnight,” said Mr. Smith, Missouri Republican. “President Trump’s economic agenda, from tariffs to tax relief to deregulation, is about making it competitive again to build, manufacture, grow and produce in America.”

Mr. Trump’s decision to pivot to a 10% tariff across the board will be a near-term boon to companies that set up supply chains in places like Vietnam or Cambodia, and to small nations like Lesotho, which felt blindsided by Mr. Trump’s hefty levies.

China is a notable exception. It increased levies on U.S. goods from 34% to 84% on Wednesday in response to Mr. Trump’s decision to slap a 104% tariff on Chinese goods.

“When you punch at the United States of America, President Trump is going to punch back harder,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said.

Mr. Trump’s decision to raise the tariff on Chinese goods to 125% could have sweeping implications for toy companies and others that rely on Chinese output. These companies might raise prices to keep their operations afloat.

Rep. Don Beyer, Virginia Democrat, said he is glad Mr. Trump “caved” on reciprocal levies, but he’d like Mr. Trump to drop his automobile levies and other tariffs, too.

“The best time to stop punching yourself in the face is now,” he wrote on X.

Mallory Wilson contributed to this story.