By AP News
Photos: YouTube Screenshots
President Donald Trump delivered another jarring reversal in American trade policy Wednesday, suspending for 90 days import taxes he’d imposed barely 13 hours earlier on dozens of countries while escalating his trade war with China.
The moves triggered a stock market rally on Wall Street but left businesses, investors, and America’s trading partners bewildered about what the president was attempting to achieve. Read more.
Why this matters:
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt characterized the sudden change in policy as part of a grand negotiating strategy. But to those outside the Trump administration, it looked like a cave-in to market pressure and to growing fears that the president’s impetuous use of import taxes — tariffs — would cause massive collateral economic damage.
Trump’s ever-changing trade war tactics have already done damage, forcing dazed companies to delay or cancel plans as they tried to figure out what Trump was doing and how they should respond. Some companies temporarily laid off workers after Trump’s widespread tariffs were announced, while there were signs that many firms held off on hiring.
Businesses have sought greater clarity around Trump’s ultimate tariff policies for weeks. It’s not clear that the 90-day pause has reduced their uncertainty. Jeff Jaisli, CEO of the New Jersey-based importer/exporter Jagro, said Trump’s Truth Social post on Wednesday had made things “even worse’’ and more confusing.
