Trump steps back from cliff edge of all-out global trade war 10 minutes ago Share Save Anthony Zurcher • @awzurcher North America correspondent in Washington Share Save Watch: Why US markets shot up like a rocket after tariffs pause For days, Donald Trump and his White House team had insisted they were fully committed to their decision to impose sweeping "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of countries. They even derided a report on Tuesday that said the president was considering a 90-day pause – news that triggered a brief stock market surge. But now that pause on higher tariff rates, with a few notable exceptions, is a reality. The reordering of the global economic order is on hold, and Trump's promise of a golden age of American manufacturing will have to wait. The White House has said that going big on tariffs and then hitting the pause button, before entering negotiations with individual countries, was the plan all along. "We've had more than 75 countries contact us, and I imagine, after today, there will be more," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told reporters shortly after the announcement. That framing from the White House is not surprising, of course. And it is difficult to ignore the investor panic, tumbling bond market and growing public disapproval that preceded the announcement. So was it a strategic retreat in the face of unexpected resistance, or yet another example of Trump's "art of the deal" negotiating strategy at work? Watch: China tariffs 'not good' for the economy - US shoppers It didn't take long for Trump's aides – many of the same people who said he would never back down – to fan out and celebrate the president's move. Trade adviser Peter Navarro said Trump's tariff situation "unfolded exactly the way it should". "You clearly failed to see what President Trump is doing here," press secretary Karoline Leavitt told a crowd of gathered reporters. "The entire world is calling the United States of America." Trump pauses higher tariffs for 90 days but escalates China trade war What are tariffs and why is Trump using them? China retaliates against Trump's 'trade tyranny' with 84% tariffs They were less clear about the details of Trump's tariff suspension, announced via a post on his Truth Social website. Did the reprieve in higher tariffs apply to the EU? Were Mexico and Canada, which had avoided the original 10% baseline tariffs, somehow now get included? Were tariffs targeting specific sectors affected? Ultimately, the White House provided some clarity on these questions – but for hours US trading partners were left to scrutinise Trump's Truth Social post and glean details from answers to questions shouted by reporters at press gaggles. Watch: Trump says he would consider meeting with China’s Xi Jinping on tariffs