'Fake news': White House denies report of Trump mulling 90-day tariff pause for all but China

US President Donald Trump - File Image

The White House on Monday refuted as "fake news" a media report claiming that US President Donald Trump was considering a 90-day pause in his reciprocal tariffs for all countries, except China.

Reuters had cited a CNBC report earlier today, which quoted White House Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett saying that the US President was considering a three-month pause in implementation of his tariffs of all countries, except China.

.@PressSec: Reports that @POTUS is considering a 90-day pause on tariffs are FAKE NEWS. pic.twitter.com/UfXO1BhwYW

Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 7, 2025

This comes amid stock markets and oil prices collapsing further today for markets as Trump stood firm over his tariffs despite recession fears. Trillions of dollars have been wiped off combined stock market valuations in recent sessions.

Trading floors across the globe were overcome by waves of further selling after last week's sharp losses, with Trump telling Americans to "be strong, courageous, and patient," minutes before the New York stock market opened to drops of over three percent.

Earlier in the day, Trump said he had spoken to leaders from Europe and Asia over the weekend, who hope to convince him to lower tariffs as high as 50% due to take effect this week. "They want to talk but there's no talk unless they pay us a lot of money on a yearly basis.".

On Sunday, Hassett had defended Trump's tariffs and refuted the idea that they will cost American consumers more.

"So, the fact is, the countries are angry and retaliating and, by the way, coming to the table. I got a report from the [U.S. Trade Representative] last night that more than 50 countries have reached out to the president to begin a negotiation. But they're doing that because they understand that they bear a lot of the tariff. And so, I don't think that you're going to see a big effect on the consumer in the U.S. because I do think that the reason why we have a persistent, long-run trade deficit these people have very inelastic supply," he told ABC News.

A 10-percent "baseline" tariff on imports from around the world took effect Saturday. A slew of countries will be hit by higher duties from Wednesday, with levies of 34 percent for Chinese goods and 20 percent for EU products.

Beijing announced last week its own 34-percent tariff on US goods, which will come into effect on Thursday.

Hopes that the US president would rethink his policy in light of the turmoil were dashed Sunday when he said he would not make a deal with other countries unless trade deficits were solved.

"Sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something," he said of the ructions that have wiped trillions of dollars off company valuations, which impacts the retirement savings of a large number of Americans.