The American stock market surged on Wednesday after President Trump announced he would temporarily lower tariffs on almost all countries to 10 percent.
Tech companies such as Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft saw their shares rise by more than 8 percent. Other large IT companies also saw significant gains: HPE (15.91 percent), Dell (15.98 percent), Cisco (9.29 percent), Amazon (11.98 percent), Google (9.88 percent), Salesforce (8.68 percent), ServiceNow (13.52 percent), Intel (18.75 percent) and Snowflake (13.21 percent) all benefited from the news after trading hours.
The tech-oriented Nasdaq index surged about 11 percent. Trump’s announcement followed a dramatic week for the American stock markets, which was also felt on the European stock exchanges. The S&P 500 index lost more than 12 percent of its value in four trading days, mainly due to concerns about the previously announced trade barriers.
In his social media message on Truth Social, Trump stated that relief comes after representatives from more than 75 countries contacted him to discuss new trade conditions.
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Temporary 90-day break
“I have authorized a 90 day PAUSE, and a substantially lowered Reciprocal Tariff during this period, of 10%, also effective immediately,” Trump writes. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent later clarified that this relief will not apply to sector-specific tariffs, creating a temporary floor of 10 percent.
China, however, remains excluded from this tariff break. Instead, the levies on Chinese imports will be raised to 125 percent. This fits the pattern of the recent trade war between the two economic superpowers. After the Trump administration had previously applied a tariff of 34 percent on Chinese imports, China responded with identical measures on American products. Trump then increased the tariffs by another 50 percent, bringing the total to 104 percent. China followed with an equal increase.