White House blinks first with temporary reprieve; China’s duties kick in

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen welcomed Trump’s decision to pause “reciprocal” tariffs against several nations, adding the bloc “remains committed to constructive negotiations” with the White House.

“It’s an important step towards stabilizing the global economy. Clear, predictable conditions are essential for trade and supply chains to function,” she said in a social media post.

“Tariffs are taxes that only hurt businesses and consumers. That’s why I’ve consistently advocated for a zero-for-zero tariff agreement between the European Union and the United States.”

At the same time, the EU, which on Wednesday voted to approve its first set of retaliatory steps to counter U.S. tariffs on steel and aluminum, is focusing on diversifying its trade partnerships, von der Leyen said.

— Ruxandra Iordache

In a note to clients on Wednesday evening, Deutsche Bank Research’s George Saravelos noted that U.S. President Donald Trump had mentioned the bond market during his press conference at the White House that day.

“The administration is finally signalling responsiveness to the very extreme market conditions we highlighted in the morning. At the margin, this should reduce the probability that such an extreme policy mix returns,” Saravelos said.

Stocks on Wall Street surged on Wednesday after Trump announced a 90-day pause on country-specific tariffs, with the exception of new duties on China.

Despite the market response, Saravelos warned that “the damage has been done” by Trump’s reciprocal tariffs policy.

“Even if the tariffs are permanently suspended, damage has been done to the economy via a permanent sense of unpredictability in policy,” Saravelos explained. “The events of the last few weeks will resonate amongst global economic partners during the upcoming negotiations on trade and indeed for many years to come. The desire to build greater strategic independence from the US across all fronts will be here to stay.”

— Chloe Taylor

China has been “isolated as a bad actor” as a result of mounting trade tensions and tariff impositions with the U.S., billionaire investor Bill Ackman said Thursday in a social media post.

“Every American company is immediately moving their supply chains out of China back to the U.S. or to trading partners of the U.S. who are likely to make favorable tariff deals with the U.S. Time is not China’s friend,” he noted.

“As more time goes by, more companies find other and better alternative suppliers outside of China. So China is incentivized to come to the table soon and to be reasonable in their negotiations.”

Washington has doubled down on trade levies with Beijing, which has in turn resorted to countermeasures and complaints to the World Trade Organization. While granting most other nations a tariff reprieve on Wednesday, Trump raised duties against imports from the world’s second largest economy to 125%. China had earlier in the day raised its own tariffs on U.S. goods to 84% in response to White House policies.

— Ruxandra Iordache

South Korea will press ahead with efforts to lower tariffs rates in talks with Washington, after acting President Han Duck-soo’s phone call with U.S. President Donald Trump, according to South Korean outlet Yonhap.

South Korea, which exported roughly $127.8 billion to the U.S. in 2024, had been slapped with a 25% tariff rate under the White House announcements of April 2, prior to Trump’s temporary reversal of Wednesday.

“As high-level talks have taken place, we will now prepare concrete proposals and begin negotiations on individual issues with relevant trade authorities,” an official from the South Korean Prime Minister’s Office told reporters on Wednesday. “Our foremost goal is to adjust (U.S.) tariff rates.”

— Ruxandra Iordache

Higher tariffs from China on U.S. imports have kicked in at 12.01 p.m. Beijing time, raising the tariff rate from 34% to 84%.

On Wednesday, China’s ministry of finance announced the 84% tariff rate after U.S. President Donald Trump had increased tariffs on Chinese imports to the U.S. to a net total tariff of 104%.

Trump later raised the tariff on China again, to 125% at about 1.18 a.m. Thursday, saying it would take effect “immediately”.

— Lim Hui Jie