Trump blinks

Donald Trump appeared to blink in the face of global, domestic and perhaps most importantly Wall Street fury at his singlehanded destabilization of stock markets, bonds and even oil prices. The 78-year-old Republican, who has been saying all week he wouldn’t back down from his tariffs, backed down. He did so, coincidentally, just hours after his much-touted “reciprocal” levies went into effect and China retaliated by raising its tariff on US goods to 84%.

But in calling for a 90-day delay of his own trade war escalation—the latest and biggest in a series of similar retreats—Trump didn’t step away when it came to China. Indeed, the US is now raising levies on Chinese goods to 125%.

As of now, US tariffs on steel, aluminum and automobiles remain at their current rates. Tariffs of 10% or 25% on Canadian and Mexico goods, with the exception of items covered by the North American trade pact, will also stay the same. European Union imports face only a 10% tax even though the bloc announced retaliation on the metals tariffs.

As Trump’s adjutants fanned out Wednesday afternoon to spin the sudden reversal, independent observers ascribed the administration’s partial capitulation to intense pressure from all quarters and the massive damage done to markets. The White House turnabout also included trial balloons of tariff exceptions for some US companies and protection for farmers.

But the damage may already be done. Though stocks predictably shot up on the news, the S&P 500 and Nasdaq still closed with more than seven months of gains unaccounted for. The “toxic uncertainty” that’s been the economic hallmark of Trump’s second term won’t go away, one economist told the New York Times, unless there’s a “major course correction.” —David E. Rovella

Keep an eye on every tariff and its economic consequences with Bloomberg’s tariff tracker. And as the fallout continues to ripple throughout markets, follow our live blog for the latest.

What You Need to Know Today

Americans better check the garage to see how their summer gear weathered the winter—it may soon cost a lot more to replace. Amazon has canceled orders for multiple products made in China and other Asian countries, suggesting the company is reducing its exposure to tariffs. The orders for beach chairs, scooters, air conditioners and other merchandise from multiple Amazon vendors were halted after Trump’s now partially-suspended April 2 announcement of new levies. One vendor who has been selling beach chairs made in China to Amazon for more than a decade received an email from the company last week that said it was canceling some purchase orders it placed “in error“ and instructed the vendor not to ship them.

Xi Jinping’s government is urging Chinese citizens to think twice before boarding a flight to the US, expanding Beijing’s response to the Trump administration’s steep tariff hikes and adding to the grim outlook for the US tourism industry. It’s not just the tariffs, of course: There’s an increasing number of reports on how Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) employees are detaining, interrogating and deporting more visitors—and in at least one case, involving alleged physical brutality (the agencies have denied any wrongdoing). The offices within the Department of Homeland Security that policed alleged misconduct by CBP and ICE employees meanwhile have been effectively shuttered by Trump. With US citizens getting caught up in the dragnet of Trump’s anti-immigration policies as well, tourists are increasingly dropping America as a destination.

Separately, Trump’s potentially illegal flights of Venezuelan men and boys to a notorious El Salvador prison—in some cases based on a 227-year old wartime law—were largely filled with detainees who have no criminal record—some 90% of them, according to a Bloomberg investigation. The administration has repeatedly claimed that the deportees were hardened criminals. One of Trump’s top immigration officials, Robert Cerna, after conceding many had no criminal record, responded in a legal filing that their lack of a record shows they are “terrorists.”

Friedrich Merz sealed a coalition deal with the Social Democrats, paving the way for the German conservative leader to become chancellor at a time of acute domestic and geopolitical turmoil for Europe’s largest economy. After the far-right Alternative for Germany secured second place in the national vote, the combination of the country’s two traditional mainstream forces was the only viable centrist option. The so-called “Grand Coalition” of the conservatives with the Social Democrats was once a rarity, but it’s now the fifth such as alliance since World War II. “Germany gets a government with the ability and strength to act,” Merz said at a press conference on Wednesday in Berlin. “We do not yet know in which direction the international situation will change, but our message is clearer today: we want to and will help shape the change.”

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-04-09/why-trump-paused-tariffs-and-what-happens-in-90-days?sref=fSOf3OlPAmericans have amassed plenty of housing wealth in recent years—but millions of homeowners are finding they’re effectively locked out of accessing it, a new study found. Higher interest rates and debt levels, along with pandemic-led disruptions to jobs and incomes, have made it more difficult for many US property-owners to tap home-equity loans and lines of credit, according to Point, a home-equity investment company. Even after the jobs rebound of the past couple of years, the study found that almost 4.6 million homeowners with mortgages have experienced labor-market shifts that are associated with lower credit scores—blocking their access to the more than $730 billion in home equity that they hold.

The share of active credit cards in the US making only minimum monthly payments rose in the fourth quarter to the highest level in 12 years of data, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.

Some 11.1% of active accounts made only minimum payments, up from 10.9% in the third quarter. The share of accounts 90 days past due also rose to a record. The data indicate Americans were already experiencing some financial distress even before Trump took office, but consumer sentiment has further soured in 2025 amid widespread uncertainty.

What You’ll Need to Know Tomorrow

For Your Commute

Bloomberg Opinion Live Q&A: Trump announced he would raise tariffs on China to 125%. The question now is who will blink first in the US-China trade war. Join Bloomberg Opinion’s Ruth Pollard along with columnists Shuli Ren, Karishma Vaswani and Catherine Thorbecke for a Live Q&A Wednesday, April 9, at 9 p.m. EDT/Thursday, April 10 at 9 a.m. HKT. Join us here.

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