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STOCK INDEXES SURGED Wednesday, and lawmakers breathed a sigh of relief after President Trump announced he’d reduce and delay most tariffs on foreign goods.

At the same time, a full-blown trade war is underway between the U.S. and China. Trump ramped up tariffs on the country to a whopping 125 percent, hours after China announced its own retaliation.

Driving the markets: Trump announced a 90-day pause on the reciprocal tariffs on individual countries that went into effect at midnight, although he’ll maintain a 10 percent global tariffs baseline.

After a massive sell-off last week, the markets soared on the news.

⬆️ The S&P 500 jumped more than 9 percent.

⬆️ The NASDAQ gained 12 percent.

⬆️ The DOW spiked by nearly 8 percent.

Trump, who earlier in the day urged everyone to “be cool,” said he noticed "people were getting a little queasy."

However, he insisted that fears over the bond market collapsing did not drive his decision. Instead, he said he’d decided to pause reciprocal tariffs on individual countries because so many had reached out to strike new trade deals with the U.S.

“These Countries have not, at my strong suggestion, retaliated in any way, shape, or form against the United States, I have authorized a 90-day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” he posted on Truth Social.

No deals have been announced yet, although Trump administration officials say Vietnam, Japan and South Korea are among those in talks with the U.S. about a realignment.

The full picture remains murky.

Member states of the European Union announced retaliatory tariffs against the U.S. earlier in the day that are set to hit April 15.

Trump had previously announced new auto parts tariffs set to take hold May 3, and he announced “major” new pharmaceutical tariffs at a GOP campaign event on Tuesday night.

CHINA TRADE WAR ESCALATES

While much of the world will get a reprieve, the trade war between between the world's two biggest economies is in full bloom.

“At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable,” Trump posted.

Wednesday morning, China announced an 84 percent retaliatory tariff on U.S. goods. Trump responded in the afternoon with another tariffs hike on China, bringing it from 104 percent to 125 percent.

“They’ve ripped us off left and right,” Trump said at a National Republican Congressional Committee event Tuesday night. “But now it’s our turn to do the ripping.”

The cold war between the two countries extends beyond tariffs.

China issued a travel advisory to the U.S. and accused the Trump administration of “blackmail” after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth described Beijing as a threat to the Panama Canal.

The U.S. is warning that Chinese intelligence entities are looking to compromise fired federal workers.

WASHINGTON REACTS

Republicans — many of whom oppose tariffs and trade wars —

© The Hill