President Trump’s decision today to pause tariffs on non-competing countires for 90 days gave traders at the New York Stock Exchange and NASDAQ a sudden burst of investment energy, virtually wiping out losses suffered since Trump’s self-proclaimed Independence Day on April 2.
China, however, being a competing country did not get a reset. Instead, Trump upped their tariff to 125 percent*. Canada and Mexico remained at 25 percent over fentanyl issues, but goods covered under the USMCA were exempted.
The Dow rose 7.87 percent, the S&P 500 9.52 percent, and the NASDAQ 12.16 percent. Whether heavy — and positive — trading will resume on Thursday remains to be seen. Analysts were split on whether the uptick signals a return to investor confidence or would prove to be just a “kneejerk” reaction to news of the pause.
Some are calling this a victory by market-savvy Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent over hard-line Senior Trade Representative Peter Navarro.
POSSTSCRIPT: The White House later corrected this figure and saif it was actually 145 percent.