USA
President Donald Trump has announced a 90-day pause for countries hit by higher US tariffs but a trade war with China has escalated.
In a dramatic change of policy, just hours after levies against roughly 60 of America's trading partners kicked in, Trump said he was authorising a universal "lowered reciprocal tariff of 10%" as negotiations continued.
At the same time, he increased tariffs on goods from China to 125%, accusing Beijing of a "lack of respect" after it retaliated by saying it would impose tariffs of 84% on US imports.
This comes a week after Trump announced import taxes on all goods entering the US, which is the biggest upheaval of international trade in decades.
His plan set a baseline tariff of 10% on all imports - which remains in place - but also higher rates on partners the White House described as the "worst offenders" for what the president considers to be unfair trade practices.
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Hours later, when the change was announced, US shares rocketed with the S&P 500 soaring 7% in afternoon trading. It later closed the day's trading up 9.5%, while the Dow Jones surged by 7.8%.
Announcing the latest iteration of his plan on Truth Social, Trump said he was authorising a 90-day pause on tariffs for the countries that had not retaliated against his levies.
The additional tariff on Beijing, he said, would be effective immediately. "At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realise that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable," he wrote.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent insisted the change of policy had not been influenced by the global falls, but senior Democrat Chuck Schumer said the decision showed Trump was "reeling and retreating".
Speaking outside the White House, Trump later said the amendments to his tariffs policy had "had to be done" because people were "getting yippy".
"I did a 90-day pause for the people that didn't retaliate because I told them 'if you retaliate, we're going to double it' - and that's what I did with China," he said, adding that he thought, "It's all going to work out amazing."
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