Trump's Trials - President Trump blinks on tariffs

Episode Date: April 10, 2025

Facing pressure from world markets, President Trump stepped back from his plans to slap steep tariffs on a broad range of countries — except for China.Support NPR and hear every episode of Trump's Terms sponsor-free with NPR+. Sign up at plus.npr.org.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

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in President Trump's trade policy on Wednesday. Early in the morning, his steep new tariffs went into effect. Then he told Americans to, quote, be cool as markets plunged. But by afternoon, he backed off and put a 90-day pause on most of the tariffs. Markets soared. Everybody wants to make a deal, actually. And, you know, we want to do what's right for our country. We also want to do what's right for the world. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez was there. He joins us now. Good morning,

Franco. Good morning, Wynal. So you were at the White House yesterday in the Oval Office. Tell us about this really big day. Yeah, it was a really big day. I mean, for weeks, his team had insisted that Trump was going to hold the line. And just days ago, Trump even wrote on social media in all capital letters, my policies will never change.

And then they did in another social media post. And this is how Trump explained it at the White House. Well, I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippee, you know, they were getting a little bit yippee, a little bit afraid. You know, he also talked about concerns in the bond market and then he downplayed all those concerns. And Trump and his aides began painting this as being part of their strategy all along. So how much of this had to do with the markets? Is this an about face? Yep, there's no mistaking the turmoil that the markets were under and it was getting worse and worse. Top investors

were pleading with Trump. Some were almost begging him to do this very thing, issue a 90-day pause. Now, Trump did say you have to be flexible in your policies, but he insisted this was the right thing to do. Okay, so what happens now there's a 90-day pause and then what? Yeah, I mean we should be clear that the administration is keeping a baseline 10% tariff on imports, which is a big deal. But it is nothing, nothing like what he was threatening, such as a 46% tariff against Vietnam. Well, so now they've begun these discussions with these countries on what they've described

as tailor-made negotiations for each, though we don't really know what that involves. But his goals on this have always been kind of unclear. They've talked about the tariffs being about reducing the trade deficit. They've talked about the tariffs being about bringing back manufacturing. They've talked about the tariffs being about boosting government revenue. So it's always kind of been this mixed bag. Right. And then to be clear, the president has spent a lot of time talking about China's trade

practices. And again, those tariffs are still there on China. So how does this shift affect the country? Yeah, another really big deal. I mean, while he paused the tariffs on most everyone else, he doubled down on China, raising the tariffs to 125%. He said it was punishment when China announced their own retaliatory tariffs. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said China made a mistake and was basically being isolated as a result. You might even say that he go to China into a bad position. They responded they have shown themselves to the world to be the bad actors.

Now Trump said he did not think he would need to raise the China tariffs any further. And even though he had some very harsh words about China's trade abuses, Now, Trump said he did not think he would need to raise the China tariffs any further. And even though he had some very harsh words about China's trade abuses, he actually called Xi Jinping a friend and said he expects Xi to eventually call. And then he says they'll work out a deal. So all of that is something we'll be watching for. That's White House correspondent, Franco Ordonez. Thank you, Franco.

Thank you, Franco. Thank you, Lou. Before we wrap up, a reminder, you can find more coverage of the Trump administration on the NPR Politics Podcast, where you can hear NPR's political reporters break down the day's biggest political news with new episodes every weekday afternoon. And thanks, as always, to our NPR Plus supporters who hear every episode of the show without sponsored messages. You can learn more at plus.npr.org. I'm Scott Detro. Thanks for listening to Trump's Terms from NPR.

Since Donald Trump took office in January, a lot has happened. The impact of the Trump administration's tariffs is already being felt in President Trump's efforts to radically remake the federal government. The MPR Politics Podcast covers it all. Keep up with what's happening in Washington and beyond with the NPR Politics Podcast. Listen every day. These days there is a lot of news. It can be hard to keep up with what it means for you, your family, and your community. Consider this. From NPR is a podcast that helps you make sense of the news. Six days a week, we bring you a deep dive on a story and provide the context, backstory, and analysis you need to understand our rapidly changing world.

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