After a week of chaos, crumbling markets, and global pushback, the US president Donald Trump has slammed the brakes on his sweeping tariffs—except when it comes to China.
Image: AFP / IOL Graphics
Donald Trump blinked.
After a week of chaos, crumbling markets, and global pushback, the US president has slammed the brakes on his sweeping tariffs - except when it comes to China.
He’s announced a 90-day pause for most countries, rolling back the damage just enough to stop the bleeding.
But China whom we always suspected was the real target of the tariffs has been hit with a whopping 125% in tariffs.
That’s revenge for China daring to impose its own 85% tariffs on US exports following Trump announcing his global reciprocal tariffs last Friday.
What is now clear is that Trump’s tariff war didn’t go as planned.
He wanted the world to flinch, but it was Wall Street and other major stock markets that panicked. Investors pulled back. Currencies shook and economies that weren’t even in his crosshairs felt the impact.
Meanwhile, most countries Trump targeted - such as Lesotho and the Heard and McDonald islands that is only inhabited by penguins - had done nothing to deserve it.
What changed? Reality hit and the billionaires and right-wing podcast bros that feted Trump began turning on him as they saw their wealth dip.
Trump says that over 75 countries started calling Washington to negotiate better tariffs. Whether this is true or way for Trump to look like he did not surrender is unclear.
It is however a convenient off-ramp for him to save face to “pause” his tariffs and avoid what commentators began calling the "Trump economic slump".
But we all know what happened. He hit the wall and he flinched.
Now he’s shifting the blame, turning his focus to China. That’s a dangerous move.
China is not South Africa. It’s not Egypt or Australia or even the European Union. China is a superpower with the muscle to push back. Its economy is vast, its global influence is entrenched. And its leadership won’t cave to threats on Truth Social.
Trump can throw around words like “ripping off” and “pillaging” all he wants. But these aren't policy positions - they're emotional outbursts. And they’re dragging the world into instability we can’t afford.
South Africa - and much of the global South - has long been a collateral target in US trade disputes. But the world is now watching and taking note of who’s willing to weaponise trade to score political points.
Trump’s tariffs weren’t about fairness. They were about fear.
The pause of the tariffs is a sign of weakness, not strategy. Trump blinked first - and now he wants to pick a bigger fight with China.
Let’s see how that ends.
IOL Opinion
** Lee Rondganger is the deputy editor of IOL.