• EU halts retaliatory duties after US reprieve
• Wall Street tumbles as tariff risks send investors fleeing

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump’s steep tariff hike targeting Chinese goods, which took effect on Thursday, brings Washington’s additional rate on many products to 145 per cent, the White House has confirmed.

Trump’s 90-day halt in fresh duties for dozens of countries has come into place, a White House order showed.

But he has also doubled down by raising new tariffs on Chinese imports to 125pc, a figure that stacks atop a 20pc additional duty from earlier in the year over China’s alleged role in the fentanyl supply chain.

This takes the total tariffs Trump has imposed on Chinese products this year to 145pc, stacking on existing levies from past administrations.

But the latest 125pc figure on China, aimed at addressing practices Washington has deemed unfair, contains notable exclusions.

It excludes products like steel and aluminum imports, as well as autos, which Trump slapped separate 25pc tariffs on under separate regimes.

The number also does not apply to goods such as copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber, and energy products — some of which Trump has signaled plans to target separately too.

All of this paints a more complicated picture of tariff levels, even as tensions soar between Washington and Beijing.

EU pauses tariffs

The EU paused plans for retaliatory tariffs on US goods on Thursday after President Donald Trump abruptly suspended higher US duties on the bloc and other countries, leaving China in the crosshairs of his trade war.

The European Union, which had faced a 20pc tariff, welcomed Trump’s U-turn, saying it was an “important step towards stabilising the global economy”.

The 27-nation bloc responded with its own olive branch, suspending for 90 days tariffs on

20 billion euros’ worth of US goods that had been greenlit in retaliation to duties on steel and aluminium.

“We want to give negotiations a chance,” EU chief Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement. She warned, however, that “if negotiations are not satisfactory, our countermeasures will kick in” and that all options remain on the table.

Wall Street slides

Wall Street stocks tumbled on Thursday on mounting worries over the economic impact of US President Donald Trump’s multi-front tariff war.

All three major US stock indexes fell sharply, forfeiting much of the previous session’s gains as growing concerns

over the escalating Washington-Beijing trade face-off dampened optimism over upbeat economic data and US-Europe trade negotiations.

After Trump announced a 90-day tariff reprieve on Wednesday, the S&P 500 surged 9.5pc, the largest one-day percentage jump since October 2008. The tech-heavy Nasdaq soared 12.2pc, notching its second-biggest daily gain on record.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1,162.76 points, or 2.86pc, to 39,445.69.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2025