US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday he would pause many of his new tariffs for 90 days, even as he raised them further on imports from China.
Trump’s sudden reversal came less than 24 hours after steep new tariffs kicked in on imports from dozens of trading partners.
The new trade barriers have hammered markets, raised the odds of recession and prompted retaliatory responses from China and the European Union.
Most of the trading partners of the United States, including Pakistan, will surely heave a sigh of relief at the ‘pause’ offered by President Trump and in most likelihood issues would be sorted out bilaterally during the next three months.
This is because the impact of the punishing rate of duties that the US imposed on different countries had started appearing in every nook and corner of the globe.
The excessive tariff, which the President says aims to end US trade deficits with many countries — have upended a global trading order in place for decades, raising fears of recession and wiping trillions of dollars off the market value of major firms.
The temporary halt might restore the shattered confidence of the markets and allow reasonable time to the affected countries to take up the issue bilaterally with the United States.
As stated by the President himself, most of the countries have not opted to confront the US by ways of reciprocal tariffs and this prompted him to review his earlier hard stance.
Over 75 countries have so far contacted the United States expressing their desire to resolve the tariff issue bilaterally through negotiations.
These countries intend to send trade delegations to the United States to discuss ways and means to salvage the situation.
Pakistan is also one of those countries that have plans to engage the United States for the purpose.
At a meeting chaired by him on Wednesday, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif resolved to send a senior-level delegation to Washington to hold talks focused on bilateral trade ties and recently imposed tariffs on Pakistani goods.
The delegation will include prominent business figures and leading exporters, reflecting the government’s intent to engage key stakeholders in shaping a mutually beneficial path forward.
The US President has earned goodwill by his latest gesture of pausing the punishing tariffs but his decision to jack up duties on imports from China to 104% will have its own implications for global trade order, therefore, needs to be reviewed as well.
