The countries affected by Trump's new decision will receive 10 percent tariffs during the pause period, which, according to the White House, will give the USA the opportunity to negotiate new agreements.
"We, of course, welcome all announcements about lower tariffs and openness to negotiations," writes Foreign Trade Minister Benjamin Dousa (M) in a written comment to TT.
The government has not received any official notification from the White House. No conclusions can be drawn for Sweden's part until it is confirmed that the pause also applies to the EU, writes Dousa.
"But this way of conducting trade policy is not serious. Millions of people around the world have jobs that depend on trade," he continues.
"The plan all along"
USA's Finance Minister Scott Bessent claims that the pause "has always" been Trump's plan.
President Trump created maximum negotiating leverage for himself, he says according to BBC.
Trump himself briefly spoke with journalists in connection with meeting IndyCar and Nascar drivers outside the White House. He then claimed that he had not backed down.
In response to a direct question about how one can trust him now, considering that he said on Monday that there would be no pauses, Trump replied:
It's not about that. You have to be flexible. I can say that "here is a wall and I'm going to get through it". But sometimes you have to go around it.
Despite having denied just minutes earlier that the decision was affected by the recent stock market downturn, he admitted that he had seen that "some" had been nervous.
I saw yesterday that some (on the stock exchange) got a little worried about the tariffs.
In response to a question about whether it is possible to reach an agreement with the EU, he replied that:
It will be a fair agreement, for everyone.
Germany's incoming Chancellor Friedrich Merz tells German RTL that the decision is a response to "the EU's firm response".
Lack of Chinese respect
In his post, Trump announces that he is immediately raising the punitive tariffs against China from 104 to 125 percent, "based on the lack of respect China has shown towards the world market", he writes.
"At some point in the near future, China will hopefully realize that the days when they could take advantage of the USA and other countries are over and that it is no longer sustainable or acceptable."
China introduces new tariffs of 84 percent on American goods on Thursday morning, Swedish time.
The American stock exchanges soared after Trump's announcement about pausing the tariffs.
