It only took a week of financial pain for President Donald Trump’s gambit to reset America’s trading relationship with the world to start paying off.
And the stock market responded with a record-breaking one-day gain.
Just last Wednesday, Trump proclaimed it was “Liberation Day,” with the imposition of high reciprocal tariffs on nations who had been the worst trade offenders, like China, Vietnam, and Cambodia, among others.
Otherwise, Trump placed a universal 10 percent tariff on all nations selling their goods into the U.S. market.
The stock markets all responded negatively, going into correction territory.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed below 37,000 on Monday, down over 5,000 points since Trump’s tariff announcement.
The S&P 500 and the tech-heavy Nasdaq also took similar drubbings.
However, all that changed Wednesday, when Trump posted on Truth Social, “I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately” for those nations that did not retaliate against the U.S. by raising their tariffs.
Are you surprised Trump’s plan is working?
The president noted that 75 countries had called representatives of the U.S. “to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs.”
( @realDonaldTrump – Truth Social Post )
( Donald J. Trump – Apr 09, 2025, 1:18 PM ET )Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. At… pic.twitter.com/9Jikp9cqpy
— Donald J. Trump 🇺🇸 TRUTH POSTS (@TruthTrumpPosts) April 9, 2025
MarketWatch reported, “The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumped by almost 3,000 points on Wednesday, its most ever for one day, after President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs and a surprisingly strong Treasury auction.
“The Nasdaq Composite and S&P 500 also secured their biggest one-day point gains on record. The Nasdaq had its best day in 24 years, while Wednesday was the S&P 500’s best day in more than 16 years,” the outlet added.
That is some 4D chess in action. Trump laid out a marker by listing country-by-country the reciprocal tariffs he would charge, and put them into effect this week. And they were high. For example, Vietnam’s was 46 percent, and Cambodia’s was 49 percent.
Seventy-five countries reached out, wanting to do a deal. Trump said to them, in effect, “Good, let’s negotiate. In the meantime, I’ll keep the 10 percent baseline tariff in place.”
BREAKING: On Liberation Day, Trump unveiled his Reciprocal Tariff chart, detailing the new tariff rates to be applied to various countries.
China 34%
Cambodia 49%
Vietnam 46%
Bangladesh 37%
Thailand 36%
Taiwan 32%
Indonesia 32%
Switzerland 31%
South Africa 30%… pic.twitter.com/dcSXJEe07P— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) April 2, 2025
However, Treasury Secretary Scott Besssent noted that because China did not want to play ball and retaliated with an 84 percent tariff on U.S. goods, its products now face a 125 percent tariff.
“You might even say that he goaded China into a bad position,” Bessent said. “They responded, they have shown themselves to the world to be the bad actors.”
In other words, the Chinese proved they have no interest in fair play or fair trade.
NEW: Scott Bessent says Trump didn’t just raise tariffs—he set a trap, and China walked right into it.
This is what 4D chess looks like.
Markets are rebounding after President Trump slapped a 125% tariff on Chinese imports while giving a 90-day pause to other countries.
The… pic.twitter.com/M9KMreyWeG
— The Vigilant Fox 🦊 (@VigilantFox) April 9, 2025
The trade deals still need to come into place, but so far, Trump has shown himself to be the master of “The Art of the Deal.”
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