Traders conduct business on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) during afternoon trading on April 9, 2025 in New York. Wall Street’s stocks surged to solidly higher closing figures, marked by significant gains across all major indexes following US President Donald Trump’s announcement to delay steep tariffs. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 7.9 percent to 40,608.45, the broad S&P 500 Index climbed 9.5 percent to 5,456.90, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index jumped more than 12.2 percent to 17,124.97. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
OAN Staff James Meyers 3:32 PM – Wednesday, April 9, 2025
On Wednesday, U.S. stock markets experienced a notable uptick after President Donald Trump declared a 90-day postponement of tariffs for nations that had not issued reciprocal tariffs.
However, he escalated tariffs against China, raising them to a total of 125%, attributing this to the country’s “lack of respect” for global markets.
The Nasdaq saw a surge exceeding 12% and the S&P 500 rose by 10%, marking their largest gains since October 2008, during the Great Recession. Additionally, the Dow climbed an impressive 3,000 points, or 7.9%.
Nvidia shares rocketed by 15%, the largest jump since July, while Apple stock increased by 13%, the most significant rise in over five years since March 2020. Microsoft also saw a market value increase of $220 billion.
Apparel retailers, including Nike, benefited from the news, as they are significantly affected by high tariffs imposed on garment-producing countries like Cambodia, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh.
In the initial surge, trillions of dollars were added to the total value of U.S. stocks in just five minutes, offering a substantial advantage to Americans, particularly those with investments in 401(k)s and index funds such as the Dow.
Trump stated in a post on Truth Social that he opted to delay the tariffs because “more than 75 countries reached out to US officials to negotiate a solution to the trade issues raised by the new tariffs.”
Due to the lack of respect shown by China towards the World’s Markets, I am raising the tariff on China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately. Hopefully, in the near future, China will come to realize that the days of taking advantage of…
— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) April 9, 2025
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent spoke with reporters outside the White House following the tariff suspension announcement.
He mentioned that countries that had not retaliated would be subject to a universal baseline tariff reduction of 10%.
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick shared that he and Bessent were present while Trump drafted the post, referring to it as “one of the most remarkable Truth posts of his presidency.”
Lutnick further stated: “The global community is ready to collaborate with President Trump to resolve trade issues, whereas China has opted for a different approach.”
“At some point, hopefully soon, China will realize that exploiting the U.S. and other countries is no longer feasible or acceptable.
“Moreover, given that more than 75 nations have engaged with U.S. representatives, including officials from the Departments of Commerce, Treasury, and the USTR, to negotiate solutions regarding trade, tariffs, currency manipulation, and non-monetary tariffs, and that these nations have refrained from retaliating, I have authorized a 90-day PAUSE along with a considerably lowered reciprocal tariff during this period, set at 10%, effective immediately. Thank you for your consideration!”
In the meantime, the European Union (EU) initiated its own set of retaliatory tariffs, unveiling measures aimed at certain U.S. products from Tuesday in response to American duties on global steel and aluminum exports.
Nevertheless, the EU notably refrained from retaliating against the newly imposed 20% U.S. tariffs that took effect just after midnight on Wednesday.
With the market experiencing considerable volatility recently, Trump advised Americans early Wednesday to “BE COOL!” and reassured them that “Everything is going to work out well.”
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