President Donald Trump ramped up steep tariffs against Chinese imports to the U.S. this week while alleviating them for other countries during trade negotiations this week. He also signed a series of executive orders aimed at repealing Biden-era restrictions.
The Trump administration announced Wednesday it would lower reciprocal tariffs on other countries, while also revealing that the administration would immediately hike tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%. In response, China has raised its tariffs on U.S. goods to 125%.
Trump disclosed historic tariffs in a ceremony at the White House’s Rose Garden for a ‘Make America Wealthy Again’ event on April 2, asserting that these new duties would generate new jobs for U.S. workers.
The tariff plan established a baseline tax of 10% on all imports to the U.S., along with customized tariffs for countries that place higher tariffs on U.S. goods. The baseline tariffs of 10% took effect Saturday, while the others took effect Wednesday at midnight.
But Trump announced in a post on Truth Social Wednesday that reciprocal tariffs announced last week would remain paused for 90 days, during which period the countries would only face the baseline 10% tariff.
‘At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,’ Trump posted on his Truth Social media platform on Wednesday.
Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent said that the tariffs suggest that China is at odds with the rest of the world.
‘China is the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world,’ Bessent told reporters Wednesday. ‘They are the biggest source of the U.S. trade problems, and indeed they are the problem for the rest of the world.’
Here’s what also happened this week:
Shipbuilding, water pressure executive orders
Trump also signed an executive order this week aimed at reinvigorating the shipbuilding industry in the U.S., amid concerns that China is outpacing the U.S. in production.
China is responsible for more than 50% of global shipbuilding, compared to just 0.1% from the U.S., according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
The executive order requires agencies to craft a Maritime Action Plan and instructs the United States Trade Representative to provide a list of recommendations to deal with China’s ‘anticompetitive actions within the shipbuilding industry,’ among other things.
Trump also signed an executive order to reverse Obama- and Biden-era conservation measures that limited water pressure in showers in an attempt to ‘make showers great again.’ Former President Barack Obama initially imposed the water pressure restrictions, and Trump sought to ease some of them during his first term.
However, former President Joe Biden reinstated the measure, which limited multi-nozzle shower heads from releasing more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute.
‘I like to take a nice shower, take care of my beautiful hair,’ Trump said Wednesday. ‘I have to stand in the shower for 15 minutes until it gets wet. Comes out drip, drip, drip. It’s ridiculous.’
Gearing up for talks with Iran
The Trump administration also unveiled plans this week for upcoming talks to negotiate with Iran on Saturday. While Trump has reiterated that these discussions will be ‘direct’ nuclear talks, Iran has pushed back on that description and characterized them as ‘indirect’ negotiations instead.
Middle East envoy Stever Witkoff will travel to Oman on Saturday and is slated to potentially meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi. However, Iran has maintained that the discussions will be held through a third party instead.
‘The ultimate objective is to ensure that Iran can never obtain a nuclear weapon,’ Leavitt told reporters Friday. ‘The president believes in diplomacy, direct talks, talking directly in the same room in order to achieve that goal. But he’s made it very clear to the Iranians, and his national security team will, as well, that all options are on the table and Iran has a choice to make. You can agree to President Trump’s demand, or there will be all hell to pay. And that’s how the president feels. He feels very strongly about it.’
Fox News’ Bonny Chu, Danielle Wallace, and Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
