President Trump pauses higher tariffs for most countries, but reveals higher rate for China

President Trump announced he was pausing higher tariffs on Wednesday

US President Donald Trump has said that higher tariffs, which he had announced for around 60 countries earlier this month, will be paused for 90 days.

Tariffs are a tax on goods moved from one country to another.

On April 2, President Trump announced tariffs of 10% on all goods imported to the US, as well as even higher tariffs on places like Japan, Vietnam and the European Union (EU).

There was a big reaction across the world to this announcement, and stock markets went down in response.

But on Wednesday, Mr Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social saying that higher tariffs will now be paused for most countries, but not for all.

Stock markets have gone up since these latest tariff revisions, but are still not back to where they once were before the President's announcements on April 2.

And despite these changes, the lower 10% tariff remain for all countries.

This includes the UK, where the tariff of 10% has not changed since April 2.

Donald Trump has said the 90 day pause will give his government time to negotiate with the countries originally affected by the higher tariffs.

But not all of the higher tariffs have been paused.

In his post, the president also criticised China for a "lack of respect" to the world's markets and revealed an increased tariff on goods imported to the US from China of "125%, effective immediately".

The Chinese government has since responded with a tariff of 84% on goods imported from the US into China.

Mexico and Canada also still face a higher charge for some goods, after tariff announcements made earlier this year.

What has the response been to the new tariff announcements?

Around the world, the stock market has been reacting to the news of tariffs on goods arriving to the US.

The stock market was going down, which was a sign that investors were worried about the tariffs.

After the US president's announcement of a pause on most higher tariffs, there was a massive rise on the stock market.

It was one of the biggest one-day gains in stock markets in history, despite not reaching the levels before the original tariff announcement.

In the days leading up the pause, President Trump has said that the US wasn't looking at lifting any of the tariffs, so the new announcement came as a surprise to many.

Speaking to news reporters about the pause on some higher tariffs, the president said "it had to be done."

"I did a ninety day pause for the people that didn't retaliate... I think it's gonna be amazing."

Scott Bessent, the US secretary of the treasury, said the change in the president's plans "was his strategy all along".

He claimed that it could lead to more agreements between different countries on trade, saying: "We've had more than 75 countries contact us, and I imagine, after today, there will be more."

Mr Trump says he believes China's President Xi Jinping will want to make a new deal with the US

Meanwhile, China's foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian accused the US of "bullying practices".

He added that he hopes the US and China will solve the trade issues with negotiation.

President Trump has since said he believes Chinese President Xi Jinping was "going to want to get to a deal".

The Democrats, who are the opposition party to Donald Trump's Republicans, have criticised the president.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of the Democrats accused the president of "governing by chaos".