President Trump on Monday signed an executive order extending his 90-day tariff truce with China, pushing the deadline for a permanent trade agreement into late spring. The extension came just hours before the truce was set to expire, avoiding an immediate escalation in the U.S.-China trade war.
The original deal, reached in June during high-stakes negotiations between Washington and Beijing, kept U.S. tariffs on most Chinese imports locked at 55 percent in exchange for China increasing rare earth exports to the United States. Beijing also agreed to maintain a 10 percent ceiling on tariffs for U.S. goods. Without the truce, American tariffs could have soared as high as 145 percent on Chinese products, a move many economists warned would rattle financial markets and further slow global trade.
Trump’s decision followed weeks of economic turbulence, with West Coast ports reporting steep declines in cargo traffic and Wall Street showing signs of strain. Administration officials framed the move as a strategic pause to secure a more comprehensive agreement while avoiding short-term economic fallout. “We’re working toward a deal that’s fair for both sides, but most importantly fair for the United States,” Trump told reporters.
However, critics wasted no time mocking the extension, with some in the media branding the president “TACO” short for “Tariff Appeasement Commander in Office” suggesting that he had blinked in the face of economic pressure. Headlines and late-night segments ridiculed the decision as a climbdown from his hardline stance, portraying it as proof that the administration’s aggressive tariff strategy was unsustainable.
Political opponents accused Trump of backpedaling after months of boasting about the strength of his trade policy. “The president is scrambling to avoid the consequences of his own reckless tariffs,” one congressional Democrat said. Some conservative commentators also voiced frustration, warning that repeated extensions risk signaling weakness to Beijing.
Despite the criticism, Trump insisted the truce was “a smart, tough move” and said his team was making progress on structural issues, including intellectual property theft and technology transfers. He also hinted that if talks fail to produce results, tariffs could “go higher than anyone ever imagined.”
For now, the extension buys negotiators more time, but it also intensifies political and market scrutiny on what will happen when the 90 days are up and whether the man now dubbed “TACO” will stick to his threats or serve up another extension.