Trump pauses tariffs but hikes China's. Here's a timeline of the U.S.-China trade war
Updated: 4:05 PM EDT Apr 11, 2025
President Donald Trump announced Wednesday a 90-day pause on tariffs of more than 75 trading partners who did not retaliate in the hours after it went into effect. However, the tariff on Chinese goods continues to rise.In a post on Truth Social 13 hours after the original 10% tariff baseline took effect, Trump said he decided to implement the 90-day pause and lower reciprocal tariffs by 10% after countries called to negotiate trade-barrier solutions. The U.S.-China trade war was reignited when Trump invoked emergency powers to hit all Chinese imports with a 10% tariff, citing a crisis of fentanyl trafficking. The 10% tariffs on China went into effect on Feb. 4, and China also retaliated by adding tariffs of up to 15% on U.S. goods.What followed in the next two months was a series of tariff raising and tariff retaliation. From 10%, the tariff on Chinese goods rose to 125% following President Trump's Wednesday announcement.On Thursday, the White House said the tariff is now 145%. China has announced countermeasures by raising tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% starting Saturday.A 10% baseline tariff, which went into effect on Saturday, was applied to most nations. However, with the recent announcement on Truth Social, the 20% tariff on goods from the European Union, the 24% tariff on imports from Japan, and the 25% tariff on products from South Korea have been lowered.PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4K
NEW YORK — President Donald Trump announced Wednesday a 90-day pause on tariffs of more than 75 trading partners who did not retaliate in the hours after it went into effect. However, the tariff on Chinese goods continues to rise.
In a post on Truth Social 13 hours after the original 10% tariff baseline took effect, Trump said he decided to implement the 90-day pause and lower reciprocal tariffs by 10% after countries called to negotiate trade-barrier solutions.
The U.S.-China trade war was reignited when Trump invoked emergency powers to hit all Chinese imports with a 10% tariff, citing a crisis of fentanyl trafficking. The 10% tariffs on China went into effect on Feb. 4, and China also retaliated by adding tariffs of up to 15% on U.S. goods.
What followed in the next two months was a series of tariff raising and tariff retaliation. From 10%, the tariff on Chinese goods rose to 125% following President Trump's Wednesday announcement.
On Thursday, the White House said the tariff is now 145%. China has announced countermeasures by raising tariffs on U.S. goods from 84% to 125% starting Saturday.