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Page 301 of 496
No. 381
Filed JUNE 11, 2026
Economy & Trade
Second Term

Trump Rescues Americans From The 145 Percent Tariffs He Imposed By Lowering Them To The 30 Percent Tariffs He Also Imposed

The Filing

WASHINGTON. President Donald J. Trump announced Thursday that he had personally rescued the American economy from a crippling trade catastrophe, unveiling a landmark framework with China that lowers the tariffs he imposed in April 2025 to the slightly less ruinous tariffs he imposed in February 2025.

Under the agreement, finalized after two days of negotiations in London, the United States will maintain a 30 percent tariff on Chinese imports, consisting of a 20 percent "fentanyl" levy and a 10 percent "reciprocal" levy, while pausing for 60 days the additional triple-digit tariffs that had briefly pushed the combined rate as high as 145 percent. Economists noted that the 30 percent figure, hailed by the administration as historic relief, remained 30 percentage points higher than the zero percent in effect before the President took office.

"This is a great deal, maybe the greatest trade deal ever made, and the people are very happy," said Trump, who did not specify which people. Officials later clarified that American importers, who pay the tariffs directly and pass the cost to consumers at checkout, would continue paying them.

In exchange for the pause, China agreed to resume exporting the rare earth minerals it had stopped exporting in response to the tariffs, and the United States agreed to resume admitting the Chinese students it had stopped admitting. A source within the administration described the breakthrough as "restoring both nations to a relationship of mutual access to things that were freely available fourteen months ago," and characterized it as a personal triumph for the President.

The 60-day window, administration officials confirmed, preserves the President's ability to reintroduce the catastrophic tariffs at a moment of his choosing, ensuring that the nation can be rescued from them a second time. Market analysts welcomed the news, with stocks rising sharply on confirmation that the emergency the President had created in the spring would be temporarily suspended by the President in the summer.

At press time, Trump was reportedly preparing to save American families from rising consumer prices by drawing attention to a separate crisis he had not yet caused.

Sourced to the public record · presented without editorial embellishment
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