In early April, historic tariffs of 10% on nearly all countries in the world went into effect in a move that was seen as just the latest escalation in President's Trump absolutist tariff war. But in the month since, with some exceptions and plenty of White House saber-rattling, the direction of Trump's trade war has mostly been moving in the direction of easing. The president has offered, by Yahoo Finance's count, at least five significant rollbacks of his previously absolutist tariff agenda and rhetoric over that time — including some moves he and his team previously said would never happen.
"I'm giving them a little bit of a break," said Trump during a Michigan rally this week of his latest adjustment on auto tariffs, adding, "it's called a little flexibility." That flexibility has indeed been in evidence for weeks now, with Trump offering retreats on things like reciprocal, technology, and automaker tariffs as well as rhetorical shifts on his approach to China and specific companies. It's an important shift to close out Trump's first 100 days in office and a reflection of how the president's tariff plans bumped up against the reality of the markets and the global economy.
White House officials deny there is any shift underway, saying instead the president's door is always open for talks and it's part of a negotiating process that will lead to better results down the line. "Trust in Trump," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt offered at one point recently on the question of ongoing disruptions. Read more: What Trump's tariffs mean for the economy and your wallet Either way, stocks have responded.
The benchmark S&P 500 (^GSPC) hit a low of 4,835 on April 7, according to Yahoo Finance data. That was just before Trump’s first major concession. That came on April 9, when he announced he would authorize a 90-day pause on his reciprocal tariff plans (leaving those April 5 10% duties in place but pausing a second wave that had been planned on top of them) because he noted people were "yippy" and "afraid".
Markets have often been on the rise since then, but the path ahead is still uncertain, with many of Trump's concessions described as temporary and the president often laying out a vision of tariffs that sees duties high and in place for years. A series of concessions China was not included in the April 9 pause, with Trump instead raising rates on that country to an eye-watering 145%. But China and President Xi Jinping only had to wait a few days for significant concessions, with the White House revealing on April 11 an important win for Apple (AAPL) and other China-dependent technology giants in the form of exclusions for smartphones, computers, semiconductors, and other electronics from the president's "reciprocal" tariffs.
