Trump's top trade official wasn't informed of tariff delay until after announcement

Source: CNN Business

Updated 2:52 PM EDT, Wed April 9, 2025


Washington CNN — President Donald Trump’s top trade official said he wasn’t informed of the 90-day pause on most new tariffs until after it was announced.

At the same moment that US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was defending Trump’s stiff tariffs during a House hearing, Trump said on his social media platform that the administration will delay the additional tariff hike on dozens of countries by 90 days — which went into effect for mere hours on Wednesday — with the exception of China.

Trump’s tariff hike, albeit short-lived, was the sharpest ever according to data going back 200 years, Fitch Ratings told CNN, which would have likely resulted in higher inflation and weaker economic growth if they were kept in place, according to most economists.

When Democratic Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada asked Greer when he learned of Trump’s latest tariff move, he said, “Well, I understood the decision was made a few minutes ago.” “It looks like your boss just pulled out the rug from under you and paused the tariffs,” Horsford said. Greer then said he was aware the policy change was a possibility Wednesday morning. But when asked directly if he knew the policy was going into effect, he replied that the administration discusses “all kinds of options.”

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/09/business/trump-top-trade-official-testifies-house-tariffs/index.html