Behind the US's Suspension of "Reciprocal Tariffs": Who Was the Key Figure That Reversed Trump's Stance?

On Wednesday Eastern Time, Trump unexpectedly announced that he had authorized a 90-day tariff suspension for countries that do not retaliate. This was in stark contrast to his stance just a day earlier, when he vowed to maintain historically high tariffs.

Even though the market had long known that Trump's policies were unpredictable, such a 180-degree reversal still shocked the market.

In fact, not only was the global market surprised by Trump's sudden change in attitude, but even Trump's own team members seemed to be kept in the dark. Just minutes before Trump announced the tariff suspension, his trade representative, Jamieson Greer, was defending the benefits of Trump's tariff stance on Capitol Hill, seemingly unaware of Trump's plan to suspend tariffs.

So, how exactly was the communication within Trump's team regarding tariffs? Who prompted Trump's sudden change in attitude?

Even Trump's own people were unaware.

If Trump had planned to announce the tariff suspension at noon Eastern Time on Wednesday, he clearly did not widely disclose his intentions—not even to his own team.

According to reports, many White House officials learned of his latest decision through Trump's post on Truth Social—at the same time as the rest of the world. Even his own top trade official seemed to have no prior knowledge of it.

This dramatic scene unfolded on Capitol Hill. As Trump announced the tariff suspension, U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer was defending the significance of Trump's tariff stance at a hearing on Capitol Hill. However, Trump's sudden post on Truth Social about the tariff suspension left Greer in an awkward position.

Nevada Democratic Representative Steven Horsford immediately questioned Greer: "When did you learn about Trump's latest tariff move?"

Greer awkwardly responded: "Uh... I know this decision was made just a few minutes ago."

Horsford mocked: "It looks like your boss just pulled the rug out from under you (sold you out) by suspending tariffs."

Greer then tried to cover up: "Uh, I knew the policy might change on Wednesday morning."

Horsford fired back: "You found out 3 seconds ago, we were all sitting here, we all saw it... So, the U.S. Trade Representative hasn't even discussed global trade with the U.S. President, and the President just announced it on Twitter? Who's really in charge here?"

Greer could only sheepishly respond that Trump was the president elected by the American people and that he was responsible for setting trade policy.

Who changed Trump's mind?

From the dynamics on social media, it seems that only two team members truly understood Trump's tariff decision change—U.S. Treasury Secretary Besant and Commerce Secretary Lutnick.

After Trump announced the tariff decision, the White House posted a photo of Trump sitting in the Oval Office. Behind him stood Besant and Lutnick.

Lutnick also stated on platform X: "Scott Besant and I sat with the President as he wrote one of the most extraordinary Truth posts of his presidency."

According to a senior government official, on Wednesday Eastern Time, the U.S. government bond market experienced a significant sell-off, which may have been an important factor influencing Trump's decision.

In recent days, U.S. Treasuries have faced consecutive large sell-offs, with the 10-year Treasury yield rising above 4.5% on Wednesday. According to three sources, the growing concern within the Treasury about the bond market's situation was a major factor in Trump's decision to suspend the "reciprocal tariff" system.

Before Trump announced this decision, Treasury Secretary Besant and Commerce Secretary Lutnick jointly reminded Trump of the bond market issues, urging him to suspend the implementation of "reciprocal tariffs."

At the same time, key allies from the business community also called senior White House advisors, warning them of the increasingly concerning developments in the bond market and urging Trump to suspend tariffs.

That afternoon, Trump himself admitted that he had been closely monitoring the turmoil in the bond market.

"The bond market is very tricky, I've been watching it," Trump told reporters, "Now the bond market is good. But yes, I saw people were a bit uneasy last night."

Trump also described that his latest tariff decision was more of an impulse rather than a pre-planned strategy —the text of the post was not even consulted with the President's legal team:

"We didn't have lawyers, or—just wrote it. We wrote it from the heart, right? It was written from the heart, and I think it was written well, but it was written from the heart."

Chief Trade Advisor Marginalized?

Another notable point is that Trump's chief trade advisor, Peter Navarro, and DOGE head Musk, who have been engaged in a war of words on X in recent days, do not seem to have been involved in Trump's latest tariff decision.

Navarro has always been a hardliner within Trump's team, insisting on using tariffs to reduce the U.S. trade deficit, and was previously considered one of the key figures influencing Trump's tariff decisions. Musk, on the other hand, is an opponent of high tariffs and has previously been close to Trump, frequently visiting the White House and Mar-a-Lago together.

In recent days, the two have been trading insults on platform X: Navarro called Musk just a "car assembler," while Musk called Navarro "dumber than a bag of bricks."

In fact, Trump's team not only has the "infighting" between Navarro and Musk, but different team members have also frequently contradicted each other in their public statements on tariffs. For example, Navarro previously stated publicly that Trump was not using tariffs to negotiate, but shortly after, Treasury Secretary Besant said that imposing additional tariffs was one of Trump's negotiation strategies.

Recently, some U.S. media reported that Trump seems to think Navarro has botched the "public relations aspect" related to tariffs and is considering giving Treasury Secretary Besant a more prominent role in external messaging. Navarro denied this speculation in his response on Wednesday.

He claimed that Trump's team gets along well internally, and everyone brings their own characteristics and ideas to the policy debates at the White House.

He said: "If you go behind the scenes and attend some meetings yourself, you'll find that we have some very smart people, each with their own comparative advantages. We get along well and all have great ideas."