United States President Donald Trump announced a 90-day pause on new tariffs and raised tariffs on China to 125%. He also defended his decision, stating, “Somebody had to do it.” Trump clarified the reason for 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs, which applies to over 75 countries. He emphasised that the tariff hike was necessary and called the previous trade imbalance with China “unsustainable.” Trump added that no other US leader would have taken such a step.
Trump Justifies Aggressive Tariff
He pointed out that in the previous year, China made USD 1 trillion off trade with the US. However, he has reversed it declared Trump.
“Well, I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. No other President would have done what I did. Somebody had to do it. It had to stop because it’s not sustainable. Last year, China made USD 1 trillion off trade with the United States. Now I’ve reversed it,” Trump said.
In response to China’s retaliatory move, where it announced tariff a 34% on US goods. Trump announced an additional 50 per cent hike and increased the tariff to 104%. In a tit-for-tat response, China increased tariffs on US goods from 34 per cent to 84 per cent, effective April 10. This further escalated tension between the US and China, with Trump announcing whopping 125 per cent tariff hike.
90-Day Pause On Reciprocal Tariffs
While he hiked tariffs on China, Trump was kind to other countries as he announced 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs.
Trump said that the 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs applies to those countries that didn’t retaliate. He added that he had warned that tariffs would be doubled if they retaliate. “I did a 90-day pause for the people who didn’t retaliate because I told them if they retaliate, we’re going to double it. And that’s what I did with China because they did retaliate. So we’ll see how it all works out,” said Trump.
He further expressed confidence that the trade situation would “work out amazingly” for the US. He asserted that he was happy to have done that for the country. “So we’ll see how it all works out. I think it’s going to work out amazing. I think that our country is going to be at the end of a year or shorter, but I think we’re going to have something that nobody would have dreamt possible. I am very happy that I have done it.”
Trump On Trade Situation With EU
He also addressed the trade situation with the European Union (EU). Trump claimed that the EU had not been fair to the United States. He reiterated that people took advantage of the US and ripped them off for decades.
“A deal is going to be made with everyone and they will be fair deals… They weren’t fair to the United States. They were sucking us dry and you can’t do that… People took advantage of our country and ripped us off for decades,” added Trump.
