MD Reaction To 90-Day Pause On Tariffs Amid Economic Turmoil

MARYLAND — 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.

Shortly after the president’s announcement, U.S. Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) said Trump won a “clear mandate” in November and is now “delivering on it.”

“The changes to industrialization in America took decades to move overseas and the President is working in good faith as he negotiates trade policy for Americans over the next 90 days,” Harris said.

Before Trump’s shift, Maryland’s Democratic lawmakers issued a joint statement condemning tariffs and calling on federal officials to detail the impact they could have on the Port of Baltimore.

“We are especially concerned about … the economic consequences for the American consumer,” lawmakers said in the statement released by U.S. Rep. Steny Hoyer. “These tariffs effectively serve as a sales tax on consumers, placing the burden of revenue raising on American families.”

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

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

Trump posted on Truth Social that because “more than 75 Countries” had reached out to the U.S. government for trade talks and have not retaliated in a meaningful way, “I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately.”

The 10% tariff was the baseline rate for most nations that went into effect on Saturday. It's meaningfully lower than the 20% tariff Trump had set for goods from the European Union, 24% on imports from Japan and 25% on products from South Korea.

Still, 10% would represent an increase in the tariffs previously charged by the U.S. government.

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

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.

“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 story is developing and will be updated.

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