WASHINGTON

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he had been considering a 90-day delay in elevated reciprocal tariffs with the country’s trading partners "over the last few days."

"I've been thinking about it. I've been dealing with Scott, with Howard, with some other people that are very professional. And I think it probably came together early this morning, fairly early this morning. Just wrote it up," he said, referring to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick.

"It was written from the heart, and I think it was well-written too, but it was written from the heart. It was written as something that I think was very positive for the world and for us, and we don't want to hurt countries that don't need to be hurt, and they all want to negotiate," he added.

As he increased US tariffs on Chinese imports to 125% earlier Wednesday, Trump coupled the announcement with another granting over 75 nations a 90-day reprieve from a Wednesday deadline in which they were expected to be hit with tariffs above his 10% baseline, in some cases many multiples higher than that figure.

The president said in a post on his Truth Social platform that he was taking the action because the nations had reached out to their US counterparts "to negotiate a solution to the subjects being discussed relative to Trade, Trade Barriers, Tariffs, Currency Manipulation, and Non Monetary Tariffs" and because they have not retaliated "in any way, shape, or form against the United States."

Markets mounted one of their largest rallies in history after news of the decision, with the tech-heavy Nasdaq closing up more than 12% and the Dow up more than 7.8% after a week of staggering losses.