'Fed Up With Being Taxed': 90-Day Pause On Tariffs Enforced

FLORIDA — President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly backed down on his tariffs on most nations, announcing a 90 day pause for all trading partners except for China, for which he raised the rate to 125 percent.

Global markets surged on the development, but the precise details of Trump's plans to ease tariffs on non-China trade partners were not immediately clear. It was seemingly an attempt to narrow what had been an unprecedented trade war between the U.S. and most of the world to one between the U.S. and China.

Florida leaders reacted to the news, with U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, R-FL 17th District, appeared to support Trump in a tweet published Monday.

"For years, countries like China got the upper hand while our leaders sat back. That ends now. Since President Trump laid out his trade policy, more than 50 countries have come to the table to fix their deals with us," Steube tweeted.

"I support his efforts to get better terms for American workers. And I’m making sure Florida industries and employees aren’t taken for granted anymore. We finally have a chance to fix what’s been broken for decades. We need to be clear, strong, and willing to fight for a stronger economy for working Americans."

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-FL 13th District, expressed agreeing with taxation. In a tweet, she proclaimed that U.S. citizens are "fed up with being taxed to death."

"Our forefathers threw tea into harbors for much less," she tweeted. "We should get back in the business of taxing foreign industry, not hard-working Americans."

Trump announced the sweeping new tariffs last week, including a 10 percent tax on imports from all countries and higher tariff rates on dozens more.

The announcement prompted financial turmoil, with business executives warning of a potential recession and big declines in the stock market.

The S&P 500 was up 7.8% in afternoon trading after Trump's pause on tariffs was announced. It had been down earlier in the morning amid worries about Trump’s trade war and whether it would cause a recession, as economists fear. But it spiked immediately after Trump sent the social media posting that investors have been waiting for.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 2,476 points, or 6.6%, as of 1:35 p.m. Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 9% higher.

Investors have been desperate for Trump to ease up on his tariffs, which economists say could cause a global recession and increase inflation.

“Many of you in the media clearly missed the ‘Art of the Deal,’” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters, in a nod to the Trump’s 1987 memoir and advice book."

"You clearly failed to see what President Trump is doing here. You tried to say that the rest of the world would be moved closer to China, when in fact, we’ve seen the opposite effect — the entire world is calling the United States of America, not China, because they need our markets,” she added.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters that Trump was pausing his so-called ‘reciprocal’ tariffs on most of the country’s biggest trading partners, but maintaining his 10% tariff on nearly all global imports.

It was seemingly an attempt to narrow what had been an unprecedented trade war between the U.S. and most of the world to one between the U.S. and China.

Imports tariffs on goods from China, though, would surge to 125% “effective immediately” Trump said on social media.

“He keeps changing things from day to day. His advisors are fighting among themselves, calling each other names, and you cannot run a country with such chaos,” said Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer at a news conference that had originally been scheduled to call attention to the stock market plunge.

Schumer added that the danger from Trump’s tariffs had not passed and attributed his backing down to the reaction from across the country.“Donald Trump is feeling the heat from Democrats and across America about how bad these tariffs are,” Schumer said. “He is reeling, he is retreating, and that is a good thing.”

The whipsaw-like nature of Wednesday could be seen in the social media posts of Bill Ackman, a hedge fund billionaire and Trump supporter.“Our stock market is down,” Ackman posted on the social platform X. “Bond yields are up and the dollar is declining. These are not the markers of successful policy.”

Ackman repeated in the post his call for a 90-day pause. When Trump embraced that idea several hours later, an ebullient Ackman posted that Trump had “brilliantly executed” his plan and it was “Textbook, Art of the Deal,” a reference to Trump’s bestselling 1987 book.

The Associated Press contributed reporting. This is a developing story and will be updated.

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