US President Donald Trump suspended sudden tariffs on US trading partners except China on Wednesday, imposing a 10% tariff on goods imported from these countries and territories instead.
The 90-day suspension took place within 24 hours of the job being performed.
Most additional tariff suspensions that had been shaking the stock market sent a major stock index that surged into one of the biggest daily profits since World War II.
Three hours before he announced the suspension, Trump encouraged investors to buy the stock.
In the aftermath, Democrats denounced Trump for market manipulation, using his announcement to crash the first collision stock, then created a short window when the number of people who bought the stock increased dramatically.
Trump’s allies have denied the charges, but his critics are now asking Congress to investigate him.
So what happened, could market whiplash be profitable for investors who listened to Trump?
Why did Trump suspend tariffs?
Trump announced a three-month deferral from tariffs on Wednesday amid negotiations with more than 75 countries that would reduce taxation on goods.
The US president said all countries that had not retaliated against his tariffs would only face a comprehensive 10% tariff until July. He suggested that his suspension was strategic – to reward the countries that agreed to work towards a deal with him.
“I thought people were jumping out of the queue a bit, they thought they were getting Yippy,” Trump explained when he spoke to reporters and asked why he announced the suspension.
Trump announced these tariffs on April 2, between 12 and 50 percent, against roughly 60 trading partners who claimed to be guilty of impose disproportionately high taxes on US imports. These duties came into effect Tuesday.
Additionally, Trump also announced a flat 10% tariff on products from almost every other US trading partner on April 2nd. These duties came into effect on April 5th.
The suspension of tariffs does not apply to China. On April 2, when Trump called it “liberation day,” China was hit by a 34% tariff in addition to the existing 20% tariffs. This has led to a series of Tatt actions by China and the US, each raising tariffs on the other. Currently, China imposes an 84% tariff on US products. Meanwhile, Trump has increased collection of Chinese products to 125%.
In the week following the announcement, three major US stock prices, the Dow Jones Industrial Arage, the S&P 500 and the NASDAQ, fell by more than 5%. This was the largest stock market decline in the US since 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The US Treasury bond market has been under sales pressure. After Trump announced tariffs, benchmark government bond yields for the decade fell as they moved backwards to that price. On Thursday, Treasury yields began to fall.
Have all customs duties been suspended?
no.
The suspension of tariffs does not apply to China. On the “liberation day” on April 2nd, China was hit by a 34% tariff in addition to the existing 20% tariff. This has led to a series of Tatt actions by China and the US, each raising tariffs on the other. Currently, China imposes an 84% tariff on US products. Meanwhile, Trump has increased collection of Chinese products to 125%.
All other countries and territories where the US has a trade surplus or has free trade agreements are still hit by a 10% tariff rate.
Has Trump previously shown that a pause is possible?
It’s exactly the opposite.
Before announcing the suspension, Trump and his close aides repeatedly determined that tariffs would not be suspended or rewinded. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick told CNN last week:
On Monday, White House spokesman Caroline Leavitt described a news report suggesting a possible 90-day suspension of tariffs as “fake news.”
“Great Time”: What is the controversy?
But about four hours before Trump announced the suspension of tariffs, he told his true social platform, “This is the best time to buy!!”
After the announcement of a pause after Trump, the S&P 500, which tracks the stock performance of 500 major US companies, skyrocketed 9.5%. This marked one of the index’s biggest one-day profits in 80 years. The Nasdaq also rose 12.2%, with the Dow Jones industrial average rising about 3,000 points.
This means investors who listened to Trump’s true social advice and bought the market have brought great benefits. Meanwhile, investors who sold assets across the market fell and lost money before tariffs were suspended.
Why is Trump accused of manipulating the market?
Democrats accused Trump of intentionally creating market fluctuations by flip-floping between imposing and lifting tariffs. They hope that Trump will be investigated for market manipulation. This is an act of misleading free markets that are intentionally misleading for profit.
California Sen. Adam Schiff posted on X, saying, “These constant turnovers in policy provide a dangerous opportunity for insider trading.”
“Who in the administration knew Trump’s latest tariff flip-flop in advance,” Schiff said.
In another post, the senator released a video of himself repeatedly skeptical about the stock market shaking and whether Trump’s inner circle “has “illegally profited.” “The Congress must find,” he wrote.
Is Donald Trump’s inner circle illegally profiting from these huge swings in the stock market through insider trading?
Congress must find it. pic.twitter.com/zzgx99ptfe
– Adam Schiff (@senadamschiff) April 9, 2025
Questions about investors who know about Trump’s suspension plans before Trump’s announcement were also fuelled by the fact that Nasdaq calls had surged within 20 minutes of Trump’s announcement of a tariff suspension.
Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez reposted a screenshot showing the call volume spikes on the X-Post. “Parliamentary members who have purchased shares in the last 48 hours should probably disclose that now,” she wrote. “It’s time to ban insider trading in Congress.”
Trump’s trade representative, Jamieson Greer, testified to a House committee when Trump announced it. Nevada Rep. Stephen Horseford asked Greer why he refused to disclose his decision to suspend tariffs. “We have not disclosed any conversations with the President,” replied Greer.
“If it’s a plan, then how is it not a market manipulation if it’s always a plan?” Horseford said. Greer responded that this is not a market operation, saying the Trump administration is “trying to reset the global trading system, which is off-showing all factories.”
