Description: US President Donald Trump reversed the tariff imposition on almost all countries except China for up to 90 days. The announcement arrived as both EU and China were set to impose retaliatory tariffs on US goods, earlier on 09 Apr. US stock markets surged and marked their biggest gains since WWII with indexes such as S&P Global 500 hiking 9.5% rise. China remained in the cold, as Trump raised levies on Chinese products to 125% after China imposed 84% of levies on US goods. The tariff relief was welcomed by US trade partners, while the EU announced they would backtrack the planned imposition of tariffs which was projected to amount to $22 billion. Asian markets also marked an upsurge with Japan’s Nikkei index standing at almost 9%, however traders remained skeptical since tariffs on Chinese goods caused the Juan to plummet to levels reminiscent of the 2008 economic crisis.
Impact: Trump’s tariff foreign policy method expectedly revealed itself to be a targeted and an elaborate strategy to subvert the Chinese economy and bring other countries to the negotiating table. By pausing the effects of the tariffs for three months, Trump would aim at cultivating beneficial trade conditions on the global market for the US by conditioning trade partners towards free trade agreements and making concessions to bolster the US economy unilaterally. China’s isolation only emphasizes the weaponization of the tariffs as an expensive bluff which caused massive market disruptions which was aimed at severely crippling the Chinese economy. Most of the tariffed countries would negotiate their rates and agree to most probably unreal concessions as most of them depend on other revenues of assistance and support from the US, such as defense and security cooperation. China would hold fast in the short to mid – term and aim at balancing out the effects from the tariffs, reorienting trade to varied markets. EU’s position would fluctuate as the continent learned their transatlantic partners became more of a liability rather than an asset in terms of geostrategic endeavors going forward.