Tariff Strategy Recalibrated: Markets Stabilize, China Targeted

On April 9th, Goldman Sachs revised its projection of a 65% chance of a recession to under 50% following the announcement of a 90-day pause on tariffs for most of our trading partners.

The finance community did not take kindly to the announcement of reciprocal tariffs from the Trump administration last week, and the markets had been in a free fall ever since. That changed today when President Trump announced on Truth Social a 90-day pause on tariffs for all our trading partners—except for China, which instead received a 125% increase in tariffs.

While we understand why the markets were concerned about the tariffs, we at TRWP viewed the reaction as an overreaction. The tariffs weren’t meant for Wall Street—they were meant for Main Street. We hope the administration does not completely abandon its tariff policy.

Trump did announce today on Truth Social that he will be not only keep tariffs on China but increasing tariffs on Chinese goods by 125%, citing what he described as China’s “lack of respect” toward global markets and the United States. The new tariffs are set to take effect immediately.

In his post, the President stated:

“Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the world’s markets, I am hereby raising the tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately.”