S&P 500 sees one of biggest days since second world war after Trump levies pause – as it happened​on April 10, 2025 at 12:09 am

We’re wrapping up another day of historic news here in the US, but my Australian colleagues have a new day’s updates on the global tariff chaos here. (Someone at the Guardian is always awake.)

An updated summary of today’s key events:

• Global markets surged after Trump announced his 90-day tariff pause, in one of the biggest gains since the second world war. The S&P 500 surged 5.6%, while the Nasdaq has jumped over 8%. Trump’s Truth Social statement suggests he has backed down on tariffs on most countries for 90 days, applying instead a 10% tariff.

• Speaking to reporters on Wednesday about his tariffs policy, Trump acknowledged people were getting “a little bit afraid” and said: “I thought that people were jumping a little out line” and getting “yippy”. He added that his announcement on the 90-day pause and 125% raise on China could be “temporary.”

• Addressing reporters at the White House on Wednesday, treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the latest changes in Donald Trump’s tariffs policy was Trump’s “strategy all along.” He said: “This was his strategy all along, and that you might even say that he goaded China into a bad position, they responded.”

• Some world leaders responded positively to the tariff pause, including Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, who called it a “welcome reprieve.”

• Trump’s ‘buy’ tip on social media before his announcing his tariffs pause made money for investors who listened, and also raised concerns for ethics experts, who questioned whether the post amounted to Trump giving stock tips on inside information, a violation of securities law. A White House spokesman said the president has the right to “reassure the markets.”

• Asked when exactly he had decided to implement his tariff pause, Trump gave a muddled answer, saying that he had been considering it for some time, but also that “it came together early this morning,” and adding that “we didn’t have access to lawyers. We just wrote it up from our hearts, right?”

• China announced new tariffs of 84% on imports of all US goods, up from the 34% previously announced, hours after US tariffs on Chinese products went up to a staggering 104%. China’s retaliation sent stock markets falling further with major indices down in the UK, Germany, France and Spain.

• The EU announced 25% tariffs on a range of US imports in a first round of countermeasures. The 27-member bloc has agreed to impose retaliatory tariffs on €21bn (£18bn) of US goods, targeting farm produce and products from Republican states. All member states voted for the retaliation, with the exception of Hungary.

South Korea’s top trade envoy Cheong In-kyo said that Donald Trump’s tariff reprieve had provided room for negotiations, as the country seeks to reduce tariffs through talks, Reuters reports.

Cheong flew to Washington to negotiate with US fficials after President Trump announced a 25% tariff on its key Asian ally among a new set of sweeping tariffs.

In a stunning reversal on Wednesday, Trump said he would temporarily lower the hefty duties he had just imposed on dozens of countries while further ramping up pressure on China.

Cheong found the reprieve “positive”, but swift consultations with Washington are still needed to minimise impact, considering South Korea’s exports to China, and any balloon effect, he told reporters.

Fact-checking Trump’s claim about coal as a ‘clean’ energy

The Associated Press has an extensive fact-check of the claims Trump made today about coal as an “clean” energy source, as he signed four executive orders designed to help the struggling US coal industry. For example:

TRUMP: “It’s cheap, incredibly efficient, high density and it’s almost indestructible.”

THE FACTS: Coal is one of the most expensive sources of new power generation.

Read the full Associated Press coal fact-check here, and read more details on Trump’s coal-related executive orders here.

Trump signs executive order on water pressure to ‘restore shower freedom’

A global trade war roller coaster was not enough to distract Donald Trump from fulfilling one of his longtime priorities Wednesday: changing the federal definition of “showerhead”, a move the White House said would “end the Obama-Biden war on water pressure”.

Trump has complained for years about inadequate water pressure in American showers, sinks and toilets, and has blamed federal water-conservation standards for the problem.

“By restoring shower freedom, President Trump is following through on his commitment to dismantle unnecessary regulations and put Americans first,” the White House said in a statement on the executive order.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said today that his nation will be reciprocal on tariffs announced by the US, but noted that Brazil will “use every word for negotiation that is in the dictionary” first, Reuters reports.

Speaking to journalists after the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) summit in Honduras, Lula added that after the negotiations Brazil “will make the appropriate decisions”.

President Donald Trump offered some financial advice on Wednesday morning that ended up making a lot of money for any lucky investor who listened to him, the Associated Press reports.

Trump posted on his social media platform Truth Social that it was “a great time to buy.” Less than four hours after his post, Trump announced a 90-day pause on nearly all his tariffs. Stocks soared on the news, closing up 9.5% by the end of trading.

That has a few ethics lawyers worried that he may be giving stock tips on inside information, a violation of securities law. A White House spokesman said the president has the right to “reassure the markets.”

Kathleen Clark, a government ethics law expert at Washington University School of Law, says Trump’s post in other administrations would have been investigated, but is not likely not to trigger any reaction, save for maybe more Truth Social viewers.

“He’s sending the message that he can effectively and with impunity manipulate the market,” she said, “As in: Watch this space for future stock tips.”

‘Anonymous’ Trump official responds to president’s order to investigate him

During his busy afternoon, Trump also signed directives targeting two former government officials who criticized him during his first term, calling one of them a traitor and saying they should be investigated, Reuters reports

One of Trump’s directives named Christopher Krebs, his former cybersecurity chief, and said any security clearance he has would be revoked. A second presidential memorandum targeted Miles Taylor, who was a top official at the Department of Homeland Security during Trump’s first term and anonymously wrote a 2019 book criticizing the then-president.

The order stripped Taylor of any security clearance he might have and ordered the Justice Department to investigate him. Trump said he thought Taylor was “guilty of treason” as he signed the order.

In response, Taylor said via text message: “I said this would happen. Dissent isn’t unlawful. It certainly isn’t treasonous. America is headed down a dark path.”

Admit the flurry of executive orders Donald Trump signed today was one that aims to boost energy production by automatically cutting “outdated” regulations, Reuters reports.

By “outdated” regulations, the White House means virtually all regulations. The order directs ten agencies and subagencies to assign one-year expiration dates to existing energy regulations. If they are not affirmatively extended, they will expire no later than September 30, 2026, according to a White House fact sheet on the order.

“Zero-based regulation uses the bureaucracy against itself. If bureaucrats move slowly, the default is deregulation and free markets,” the White House said in the fact sheet.

The order also said any new regulations should include a five-year expiration, unless they are deregulatory. That means any future regulations would only last for five years unless they are extended.

The move is the latest in a string of efforts by Trump’s administration to pump up domestic energy output, loosen government policies and remake the US energy landscape.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Wednesday welcomed Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on some tariffs charged on trading partners, Reuters reports.

“The pause on reciprocal tariffs announced by President Trump is a welcome reprieve for the global economy,” Carney said in a post on X.

Wondering how federal workforce cuts might affect US national parks? An update:

Interior department staff, including those at national parks, have been offered buyouts and early retirement, the Associated Press reports.

Employees across the Department of the Interior have until the end of Wednesday to respond to the latest offer to take buyouts or early retirement, according to a document obtained by the Associated Press, as the Trump administration continues its efforts to reduce the federal workforce.

The offer for deferred resignation, often described as a buyout, or early retirement was sent 4 April – one day after Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, issued an order for national parks to “remain open and accessible” and directing officials to ensure proper staffing.

Not all workers can take the buyouts or retire early. Among the workers exempt from the offer are wildland firefighters, law enforcement officers, aviation jobs and cybersecurity positions.

Bernie Sanders has released a statement condemning “Trump’s trade chaos.” Here’s a highlight from the full statement:

As someone who strongly opposed disastrous unfettered free trade deals with China, Mexico and other low-wage countries, I understand that we need trade policies that benefit American workers, not just large corporations. Targeted tariffs can be a powerful tool to stop corporations from outsourcing American jobs. They can help level the playing field for American autoworkers or steelworkers to compete fairly against companies who have moved production to countries where they can pay starvation wages.

But Trump’s chaotic across-the-board tariffs are not the way to do it.

Imposing steep tariffs on countries like Germany or France will not bring jobs back to America. These are not low-wage countries. Corporations are not shutting down plants in America and moving them to Switzerland. Trump’s blanket tariffs will just raise prices for American consumers and hurt our relationships with allies, undermining our global position.

Microsoft said it is “slowing or pausing” some of its data center construction, including a $1 billion project in Ohio, the latest sign that the demand for artificial intelligence technology that drove a massive infrastructure expansion might not need quite as many powerful computers as expected, the Associated Press reports.

The tech giant confirmed this week that it is halting early-stage projects on rural land it owns in central Ohio’s Licking County, outside of Columbus, and will reserve two of the three sites for farmland.

It’s 6pm on the US east cost – thanks for following along with us as we head into the evening. Here’s a reminder of the day’s key events so far:

• Global markets surged after Trump announced his 90-day tariff pause. The S&P 500 surged 5.6%, while the Nasdaq has jumped over 8%. Trump’s Truth Social statement suggests he has backed down on tariffs on most countries for 90 days, applying instead a 10% tariff.

• Trump’s 90-day pause on tariffs may not exempt the 25% tariff on cars, Ireland’s deputy prime minister has revealed, after a face-to-face meeting with US commerce secretary Howard Lutnick. Simon Harris, the first EU politician to meet anyone in Trump’s administration since the tariffs were announced last Wednesday, said he spoke to the European trade minister Maroš Šefčovič immediately after his bilateral meeting in Washington today.

• “We’re going to put tariffs on the pharmaceutical companies, and they’re going to all want to come back,” Donald Trump said this afternoon, an idea he has raised before. “They’re going to come back – I’m not going to pay them any money.”

• Speaking to reporters on Wednesday about his tariffs policy, Trump acknowledged people were getting “a little bit afraid” and said: “I thought that people were jumping a little out line” and getting “yippy”. He added that his announcement on the 90-day pause and 125% raise on China could be “temporary.”

• The WTO chief said the US-China tariff war could reduce trade in goods between the two economic giants by 80%, pulling down the rest of the world economy. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said that the US-China tariff war could reduce trade in goods between the two countries by 80%.

• Addressing reporters at the White House on Wednesday, treasury secretary Scott Bessent said the latest changes in Donald Trump’s tariffs policy was Trump’s “strategy all along.” He said: “This was his strategy all along, and that you might even say that he goaded China into a bad position, they responded.”

• China announced new tariffs of 84% on imports of all US goods, up from the 34% previously announced, hours after US tariffs on Chinese products went up to a staggering 104%. China’s retaliation sent stock markets falling further with major indices down in the UK, Germany, France and Spain.

• The EU announced 25% tariffs on a range of US imports in a first round of countermeasures. The 27-member bloc has agreed to impose retaliatory tariffs on €21bn (£18bn) of US goods, targeting farm produce and products from Republican states. All member states voted for the retaliation, with the exception of Hungary.

• US markets recovered later on Wednesday after Bessent indicated America was open to trade agreements with allies and a subsequent group deal with China. In his first comments since China’s 84% tariff announcement, Trump urged Americans to “be cool”. The US president bragged about countries “kissing my ass” to negotiate tariffs during a Tuesday-night dinner.

Here is a look at the full list of tariffs Donald Trump originally threatened – and the new updated rate country by country: