Trump backs off major tariff plan after days of economic turmoil

What to Know

• Facing a global market meltdown, President Donald Trump on Wednesday abruptly backed down on his tariffs for most nations for 90 days — but raised his tax rate on Chinese imports to 125%.
• U.S. markets surged in response to the reversal. The S&P 500 soared 9.5% for its biggest one-day gain since 2008.
• Beijing said it was hiking retaliatory duties on U.S. imports to 84% from 34% hours after Trump’s sweeping global tariffs went into effect, which at that point included a total of 104% on goods from China.