Trump appears to halt tariffs on 75 countries but intensifies trade war with China
The UK could face a trade-war reprieve, after Donald Trump appeared to announce a 90-day suspension of tariffs against 75 countries that have not retaliated and have sought to negotiate with the United States.
In an opaquely worded statement on Truth Social, the US president praised countries that had acted in this fashion, and said he had “authorised a 90 day pause, and a substantially lowered reciprocal tariff during this period, of 10 per cent, also effective immediately”.
It was unclear whether this will merely reduce tariffs to a blanket 10 per cent, or will put them on hold entirely over the 90-day period, but is likely to reassure global markets somewhat after a week of intense economic turmoil.
However, Mr Trump simultaneously intensified his trade war with China by announcing immediate new tariffs of 125 per cent, after Beijing moved to impose 84 per cent retaliatory levies.
Before Mr Trump’s announcement, analysts warned that the US Federal Reserve could be forced to intervene to stabilise the bond market after a sharp rise in US Treasury yields overnight, signalling that US assets were temporarily losing their safe-haven status.
