Donald Trump hits 90-day pause on tariffs for 'most nations' but increases China's levies to 125%

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced that he was backing down on most nations' tariffs for 90 days amid market meltdown, but he's raising China tariffs, reported AP.

The Republican President also announced that he was raising the tariff rate for China to 125%, effective immediately.

"Based on the lack of respect that China has shown to the World's Markets, I am hereby raising the Tariff charged to China by the United States of America to 125%, effective immediately," Trump wrote on Truth Social.

Wall Street's main indexes turned sharply higher soon after the US President authorised a 90-day pause on reciprocal and 10% tariffs.

While global markets saw a major surge, the precise details of Trump's plans to ease tariffs on non-China trade partners were not immediately clear.

Trump's tariffs kicked in on April 4, including 104% on products from China, 20% on the European Union, 24% on Japan and 25% on South Korea.

Administration officials have tried to reassure voters, Republican lawmakers and CEOs that the rates are negotiable, but by their admission, that process could take months.

Trump's 90-day tariff pause: How US markets reacted?

US stocks were flying higher after the 90-day tariff pause announcement for most countries except for China.

The S&P 500 was up 5.7% after erasing an earlier loss of 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average soared 2,000 points, or 5%, and the Nasdaq composite was up 6.8 per cent.

Peabody's stock is up 3.8%, following a 9.2% jump on Tuesday. It's still down nearly 50% for the year, though.

Gold futures rose for a second straight day, with futures climbing more than 3% to $3,085 per ounce Wednesday morning.

Copper prices rose for the first time in five days, gaining 1.4% to $4.20 per pound. Silver gained nearly 2% to $30.22 per ounce.