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Released on April 10, 2025
In a reversal of plans he defended for several days, US President Donald Trump delayed almost all of the country-by-country tariffs he announced on April 2.
For two days, Trump and the White House denied that they were considering suspending tariff plans that would shake up global markets.
At an elliptical office event on April 7 with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a reporter asked Trump, “Would you accept a tariff suspension to allow negotiations?”
“Well, we haven’t seen that,” Trump said. “There are a lot of countries coming to negotiate a deal with us, and they will be fair deals. And in certain cases, they will pay a fair deal. They will be fair deals.”
April 9th - hours after he told everyone, “Cool!” – Trump changed course. “I also allowed a 90-day suspension and a significant 10% mutual tariff reduction during this period came into effect soon,” Trump posted to The Society of Truth. “Thank you for being careful about this issue!”
He gave China an exception and raised its tariff to 125%.
What is customs duty?
Customs duties are taxes on imports paid by businesses. Their costs are often passed on to consumers at a higher price.
The Trump administration said it could cut other federal taxes by increasing revenue through tariffs. But economists say that enough tariffs are unlikely to generate sufficient income to provide meaningful tax cuts for typical Americans.
What did Trump and the White House say in the first place about suspending tariffs?
On the morning of April 7th, X Account amplified a significant exaggeration of the uncommitted response from Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, in response to the possibility of a 90-day tariff suspension. CNBC Anchor repeated unconfirmed information and later aired the revisions.
On April 7, Trump shared a clip of Fox News host Maria Baltilomo. That morning, “prices are falling sharply, oil prices are falling sharply, and regulations are occurring… President Trump is not bent.”
The White House held the Trump line. The “Rapid Response 47” X Account said it reported Trump was expected to issue a 90-day suspension. White House Press Secretary Caroline Leavitt told CNBC the same thing.
During the White House media briefing on April 8, reporters asked Leavitt whether Trump was considering either imposing tariffs for negotiations with other countries or refraining from turning them around.
“The president was asked about this yesterday and answered,” Levitt said. “He said he wasn’t considering extensions or delays. I spoke to him before this briefing. That wasn’t his way of thinking. He hopes these tariffs will be enforced.”
The US stock market experienced a tumultuous day and loss amid the tariffs announced by Trump.
How did Trump describe his changed position?
Trump’s truthful social announcement about most tariff suspensions came just after 1pm on April 9th. He said more than 75 countries had called federal officials to negotiate a solution and had not retaliated except for China.
A few hours later, at an event with a car racer, a reporter asked Trump to explain his thoughts. Trump said: “Well, I thought people were jumping out of the queue a little, they were getting Yippy, you know they’re a bit of Yippy, I’m a bit afraid.”
In response to another question about the pause, Trump said: “Because in the financial markets, they’re changing. Look at the changes today. It’s been pretty mild today, but for the past few days it has looked quite jarring.
Even after the S&P 500 market index rose 9.5% on April 9, the metric still fell nearly 11% since peaking with Trump on February 19, wiping out all profits under Trump and his predecessor Joe Biden since early September 2024.
Reporters noted that Trump has been suspended from a pause in two days.
Trump said: “You have to be flexible. Here’s a wall and I’m going to go through that wall. I’m going to go through it. I’m going through it. I’m going through it. I can’t go through it. I can’t go through the wall. Sometimes, I have to be able to go around or around the wall.
Trump said he was thinking about a suspension for the “last few days” when he was talking to Treasury Secretary Scott Bescent and Howard Lutnick’s Secretary of Commerce. “I think we probably got together early this morning, and quite early this morning.
*Loreben Tuquero, Madison Czopek and Louis Jacobson contributed to this fact check. *