Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

President Trump is now on the other side of the White House from me - near the South Lawn - where he is meeting with Nascar champion Joey Logano and other racing champions, standing near a pair of colourful race cars.

The president touched on tariffs as soon as the question and answer portion of the event began, beginning with a question on his comment to "be cool" earlier today.

"They were getting yippy," he said. "A little bit unlike these champions...no other president would have done what I did."

He also took aim directly at China, which he called the "biggest abuser in history".

"Somebody had to do it. They had to stop because it was not sustainable," he said.

China, he insists, wants to make a deal, but does not know "quite how to go about it".

Image source, Reuters

Amidst the flurry of news we are continuing to receive, Donald Trump has now stepped out of the White House.

He's at a Nascar event, meeting racers, and is now speaking to the press. We'll bring you the relevant lines if we get them.

And you can click watch live at the top of this page to follow along.

Paul Kirby
Europe digital editor

It was only a few hours ago that the European Union voted to hit back with its own countermeasures, after President Trump imposed 25% import duties on European steel and aluminium last month.

But even then, the EU's messaging was cautious, stressing a "clear preference to find negotiated outcomes".

The EU's retaliatory tariffs had already been delayed from the start of April and those agreed today were to be imposed in three stages: next Tuesday, next month and in December. They didn't even tackle the broader 20% Trump tariffs that hit all EU exports first thing today. Extra countermeasures for those were to be discussed next week.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen made clear this week that the EU would really prefer no tariffs at all and was always ready for a good deal.

So Trump's decision to pause his tariffs on most countries and reduce them to 10% is a step in the right direction for the 27 countries in the EU, even if they're still high.

Germany's chancellor-in-waiting, Friedrich Merz suggested on TV tonight that Europe's response was proof that "unity helps most of all".

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

There's considerable confusion in the press area of the White House as reporters scramble to understand exactly what was just announced, and the implications of it.

The sequence of today's announcement was extremely quick. One minute, reporters here in the basement were reading Trump's social media post, and the next we were running upstairs to jostle for position when Bessent and Leavitt came out to speak.

The most puzzling aspect of this announcement, for many observers, is where this leaves Mexico and Canada.

During the gaggle, Bessent very clearly said "yes" when asked if the two countries are included in the 10% baseline tariff. That portion of Bessent's remarks was played, out loud, over and over by reporters to make sure they got it right.

What remains unclear is whether that is in addition to the 25% tariff placed by the US on Mexican and Canadian imports, ostensibly to combat fentanyl traffic, or whether the 10% only "kicks in" if that tariff falls away.

The BBC - and, it seems, almost every media outlet here at the White House - has called on the White House to clarify that point.

So far, we've not received an answer.

US markets have rallied on the news that President Trump is pausing his higher so-called reciprocal tariffs on all countries, except for China.

As of 14:45 EDT (19:45 BST), here's how US indexes are looking:

• S&P 500 has surged 7.5%
• Nasdaq is up 9.4%
• Dow Jones is up 6%

Let's revisit some more of what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had to say earlier.

Bessent said President Trump's new tariff decision was not influenced by the markets' performance in recent days.

Global financial markets have been incredibly volatile after the US president announced he would impose a 10% baseline tariff on dozens of country, as well as higher import taxes on those he deemed to be "the worst offenders".

Asked whether the whiplash across global markets affected the move, Bessent said the pause is not because of market reaction.

"We've had more than 75 countries contact us, and I imagine, after today, there will be more," he says. "So it is just a processing problem."

Jonathan Josephs
BBC business reporter

The World Trade Organization is forecasting that goods trade between the US and China could fall as much as 80% because of the deteriorating relationship between the two countries.

That would amount to a $466bn drop in trade between the world’s two biggest economies, based on last year’s trade figures where they sold each other $582.5bn of goods.

WTO Head Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said in a statement: “This tit-for-tat approach between the world’s two largest economies, which together account for roughly 3% of global trade, carries wider implications that could severely damage the global economic outlook."

The WTO head went on to warn that other countries will be damaged by the US-China dispute, with less well-off countries suffering the most. Dr Okonjo-Iweala said "a division of the global economy into two blocs could lead to a long-term reduction in global real GDP by nearly 7%".

In recent weeks, the WTO’s 166 members have been urging the organisation to do more to uphold the rules of global trade. On Tuesday, China launched its latest dispute over President Trump’s tariffs at the Geneva-based institution which designs and upholds the rules of global trade.

Image source, Reuters

Senator minority leader Chuck Schumer is now delivering a news conference. He was initially scheduled to speak about the impacts of tariffs, but says they're now "going to talk about what just happened".

"Let me be clear, Donald Trump is feeling the heat from Democrats and across America about how bad these tariffs are.

"He is reeling, he is retreating, and that is a good thing."

Schumer says they will continue to pressure Trump to remove all remaining tariffs.

He describes the administration's process as "government by chaos", citing how things are changing so rapidly around the topic.

"Irretrievable damage" has already been done, Schumer says: "The only victim is the American public."

Image source, Getty Images

Senator Ted Cruz has just spoken to Fox News about this huge announcement from President Trump.

Cruz, a close ally of Trump, had previously been somewhat critical of high tariffs and said he hoped they were short-lived.

Today, Cruz tells Fox that the president was facing a "fork in the road".

One path, Cruz says, was to use the threat of tariffs to negotiate new trade deals. The other path was to leave high tariffs in place in perpetuity.

"That path is a terrible path," Cruz tells Fox - adding that he believes Trump has chosen the best option.

Cruz says he spoke with the president for an hour last night and urged him to take the path of lowering tariffs.

He also tells Fox that he believes Trump is "exactly right and fighting for reciprocity".

The Texas senator says Trump's focus on China is good for US national security and economic security.

Image source, Getty Images

"This is one of the greatest days in American economic history we have had," Peter Navarro, Trump's trade adviser, says.

He tells Fox News that "all the nervous nellies" on Wall Street undermine the president.

The tariffs situation has "unfolded exactly the way it should" and is now going to move "fast and beautifully", he adds.

Navarro says tariffs are "not a negotiation, it's a national emergency".

Both Canada's and Mexico's key stock market indexes have rallied upon this news of being included in the flat rate of 10% tariffs from the US.

Canada's TSX is currently up 3.78%, after starting the day down 0.4%.

Meanwhile, Mexico's IPC is up 2.90% from being 0.22% down.

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

Many journalists here at the White House were left caught by surprise at the sudden change to the US tariffs.

The tone of that press "gaggle" was, I thought, triumphant, with both officials pointing to the tariffs as a successful tactic that that brought some 75 countries to the negotiating table.

China, on the other hand, is being highlighted as an example of what Leavitt described as a country that "imprudently" decided to retaliate.

In other words, a carrot and a stick approach.

The main question that is left unanswered is about the European Union, which earlier today approved a first set of retaliatory tariffs that would take effect next Tuesday, 15 April.

If China is being hit with additional tariffs because of their retaliation, it is unclear where that leaves the EU - although they have several days before those tariffs take effect.

In the meantime, it's likely we'll continue to see a string of US officials point to today's news as a sign that the "Trump effect" is positive.

Donald Trump has just announced two major changes to his tariffs plan - let's get you up to speed:

• Trump has increased tariffs on Chinese imported goods to 125% "effective immediately"
• He also announced a 90-day pause on the implementation of higher tariffs
• The pause means a "universal 10%" tariff will be in place for all countries, other than China, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says
• Markets soared following the announcement of the 90-day pause - Nasdaq index hit 9% and the S&P 500 reached 8%
• Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirms Canada and Mexico - which faced rates of up to 25% on some goods - are also included in the 10% baseline tariffs. He didn't clarify whether this also includes the EU

Bernd Debusmann Jr
Reporting from the White House

I'm outside the West Wing of the White House, where Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt are pointing to today's announcement as a sign that the tariffs are working.

Leavitt, for her part, told the reporters here with me that the media have collectively "failed to see what President Trump is doing here."

"You tried to say that the rest of the world would move closer to China when, in fact, you've seen the opposite," she said.

The decision, Bessent said, is about "bad actors", rather than specifically about China.

Bessent has also insisted that the pause on reciprocal tariffs and the universal 10% rate placed on countries except China is not a result of market reaction.

"What I am certain of is that what China is doing will impact their economy more than ours," he said. "The rest of the world now understands."

Natalie Sherman
New York business reporter

Wall Street was caught off guard by Trump’s tariffs last week, which were higher and more far-ranging than many had anticipated.

Think of the 46% rate on Vietnam, where Nike makes roughly half of its shoes. The decision to hit countries like that so hard was a "shock" as one analyst described it last week.

But a 10% universal tariff and a much higher rate on China resembles what the president had called for on the campaign trail and, perhaps, the kind of scenario that many investors were prepared to accept.

That’s to no small degree because a 10% rise in import tax is something that can be swallowed – by businesses and consumers, or, most likely, some combination of the two.

That's why markets have surged on this news: Trump appears to have blinked, and the idea that he might be checked by the stock market, as many expected, has emerged intact.

But that’s not to say that the economy is completely out of the woods. After all, the president is still discussing a 125% tariff on China - America’s third largest supplier of imports a key source of clothing, shoes, furniture and electronics.

We're seeing more now from the White House. A new post on X outlines the update to the tariffs plan. The details are as follows:

• A 125% tariff on China
• A 90-day pause and a lowered 10% reciprocal tariff for other countries

The White House says both of these changes are "effective immediately".

Stick with us and we'll bring you the latest.

Trump dials back tariff plans, leaning into trade war with Chinapublished at 18:55 British Summer Time 9 April

18:55 BST 9 April

Anthony Zurcher
North America correspondent

After a week of market turmoil, Donald Trump is dialing back his ambitious tariff plans.

The reordering of the global economic order is on hold, at least for now, and the promised golden age of American manufacturing will have to wait.

It’s unclear whether this was Trump’s plan from the start or a reaction to investor panic and growing public disapproval. In the end, it doesn’t really matter.

The reality is that the US is making nice – or at least nicer - with nations that held their retaliatory trade fire, letting the stock market bounce back and leaning into a trade war with China.

That will have global economic repercussions of its own, but it’s more in line with recent American foreign policy, including under Democratic President Joe Biden, that seeks to constrain Chinese ambitions.

The big question, however, is whether Trump’s actions over the past week – setting allies scrambling and threatening the established global order – will make such a strategy more difficult to pursue.

Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, is now speaking.

He says "every country in the world who wants to negotiate, we are willing to hear you".

China's tariff is being raised to 125% due to "their insistence on escalation".

"We are going to work on a solution via our trading partners."

They are giving the 90-day pause because Trump wants to be personally involved, they are tailoring each deal individually, and each deal will take time, Bessent says.

It's all Trump's decision, he adds.

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is now holding a news conference.

She says Trump has raised tariffs against China because "when you punch at the United States of America, President Trump is going to punch back harder".

Leavitt says more than 75 countries reached out to Trump to negotiate, and they have been overwhelmed by the amount of requests.

"In the meantime, there will be a 90-day pause in the reciprocal tariffs as these negotiations are ongoing and the tariff level will be brought down to a universal 10%."

US Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick says in a social media post that he was in the room when US President Donald Trump wrote the Truth Social post announcing the 90-day pause on most tariffs and increase to China's tariff rate.

"Scott Bessent (head of the US treasury) and I sat with the President while he wrote one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his Presidency," Lutnick posted on X.

"The world is ready to work with President Trump to fix global trade, and China has chosen the opposite direction," he says.