(Bloomberg) — Officials in Asia and Europe reacted to US President Donald Trump’s 90-day pause on higher tariffs for dozens of trade partners with a mixture of relief, caution and a little mockery.
Some — like Vietnam that had been facing a 46% levy, and Japan with a 24% surtax — pressed ahead with efforts to ensure the reprieve becomes permanent. South Korea welcomed the delay and said it’ll give local industries time to minimize disruption, while Thailand said it’ll press on with efforts to balance trade with the US.
The People’s Daily, the flagship newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party, carried a commentary that called for the US to cancel its unilateral tariffs and touted the benefits of “win-win” economic and trade relations. Trump upped his levies on imports from China yet again, to 125%, after Beijing announced plans to retaliate with an 84% duty on American goods set to begin Thursday.
Meanwhile in Brussels, the European Union will delay for 90 days the implementation of its counter tariffs against the US over the 25% duties that Trump imposed last month on the bloc’s steel and aluminum exports. Trump’s sudden scaling-back of a separate, so-called reciprocal tariff rate for dozens of economies reduced the EU’s levy to 10% from 20%.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she wants to give negotiations with the US a chance.
Vietnam Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc met with US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in Washington and agreed to start negotiations on a “reciprocal” trade agreement, according to a post on the government website. The nation’s stocks surged in early trading Thursday.
Japan will continue to urge Trump to review his tariff measures, according to Ryosei Akazawa, the nation’s top trade representative. “There is no change in Japan’s policy,” Economic Revitalization Minister Akazawa said on Thursday.
Australia’s center-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who is in the middle of a closely fought election campaign ahead of a May 3 vote, said the Trump administration’s tariff regime is an “act of self-harm” that’s damaging the US economy and that’s why the president opted for a pause.
Albanese also mocked some of the US administration’s tariff moves, including the imposition of import duties on Heard Island and McDonald Islands, a mostly barren Australian external territory inhabited by penguins.
“I’m not sure what they trade,” he said of the Antarctic islands, while adding more seriously “it is a very uncertain world that we live in.”
RIVERSIDE, CALIFORNIA – APRIL 5: Demonstrators reference penguins, featured in memes addressing the islands, nations, and Antarctica, affected by the Trump tariffs, even though more penguins than people live there, at a “Hands Off!” protest against the Trump administration on April 5, 2025 in Riverside, California. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images) ·David McNew via Getty Images
Albanese, speaking in a radio interview, pointed out that Australia doesn’t apply tariffs to the US and that Washington shouldn’t do so to Australian products “because that’s what our free-trade agreement says.”
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India won’t wait till the last minute for any deal and will use the 90-day window to set the contours of a trade pact, a government official said, asking not to be identified because the plans are private. Officials see the US as a more reliable partner than China and are keeping a watch for any potential dumping of goods from its Asian neighbor.
The US president’s about-face came roughly 13 hours after high duties on 56 nations and the European Union took effect, fueling market turmoil and stoking recession fears. Trump faced massive pressure from business leaders and investors to reverse course.
Countries that were hit with the higher, reciprocal duties that went into effect Wednesday will now be taxed at the earlier 10% baseline rate applied to other nations, with the exception of China, according to a White House official.
People watch a TV screen showing a file image of South Korean acting President Han Duck-soo and U.S. President Donald Trump, right, during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, April 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) ·ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The latest pause decision can be evaluated positively in that it gives us room to minimize impact on our industries while continuing tariff negotiations with the US,” Yonhap News quoted South Korean Trade Minister Cheong Inkyo as saying in Washington.
The pause allows time for mutually beneficial talks, Thailand’s Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Pichai Chunhavajira told reporters. He said he’s not too concerned about the 10% tariff as long as other countries are treated with the same rate.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has said he’d be speaking to officials from Japan, Vietnam, India and South Korea in the coming days. The region’s economies still face a 25% tariff on cars, auto parts, steel and aluminum, while other goods remain subject to the 10% flat tax rate applied to all nations.
Other leaders pitched their own proposals. Taiwan President Lai Ching-te said his government could eliminate duties on US products if Washington did the same — the latest overture from the self-run democracy as it seeks to placate its main military backer.
“While Taiwan already maintains low tariffs, with an average nominal rate of 6%, we are willing to further cut this rate to zero on the basis of reciprocity with the US,” Lai wrote in a piece for Bloomberg Opinion on Thursday. Trump hit goods from the archipelago excluding semiconductors with levies of 32% as part of his “Liberation Day” event.
New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is proposing the formation of a rules-based trading bloc in response to Trump’s tariffs. Luxon said the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, a free-trade agreement between 12 nations including New Zealand, Japan, Canada and the UK, could be the basis for a wider agreement with the EU that seeks to “promote free trade as a path to prosperity.”
—With assistance from Matthew Brockett, Alfred Liu, Yian Lee, Suttinee Yuvejwattana and Soo-Hyang Choi.
(Updates with India and EU reaction)
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