Daijiworld Media Network – Washington
Washington, Apr 11: US President Donald Trump has issued a firm deadline to America’s trade partners: strike a deal by July 9 or face higher tariffs. The 90-day pause on tariffs, introduced as a window for negotiation, will expire on that date. If no agreement is reached, tariffs will revert to the higher rates previously announced.
For India, this would mean a sharp jump in tariff rates—from the current 10 per cent back to 26 per cent. India, among more than 75 countries currently negotiating with the US, is seeking a bilateral trade agreement to avoid the steeper levies.
“If we can't make the deal that we want to make... then we go back to where we were,” Trump stated during a live-televised press conference following a cabinet meeting. He hinted that the pause could be extended, saying, “We'll have to see what happens at that time.”
The temporary tariff relief applies only to countries that have refrained from retaliatory action against US goods. Trump’s administration has made it clear that cooperation at the negotiating table is rewarded, while retaliation is penalized.
A notable exception remains China. In retaliation to Beijing’s 84 per cent tariff on American products, the US has ramped up its levy on Chinese imports to a staggering 125 per cent. “Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World’s Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff... effective immediately,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The new tariff strategy and the 90-day pause were formally outlined in an executive order issued Wednesday evening, following a Truth Social post that sent US markets into a tailspin before recovering. The tech-heavy Nasdaq even surged to a 20-year high after the announcement.
When asked about the sudden policy shift, Trump told reporters, “I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line... you have to be flexible.” His remarks highlighted a growing divergence between the president’s evolving stance and his administration’s earlier insistence that the tariffs were non-negotiable.