President Donald Trump said Wednesday he was pausing higher targeted tariffs for 90 days for most countries, a stunning reversal in his trade war that has sent markets reeling.

Trump wrote on social media just before 1:30 p.m. that he came to the decision because more than 75 trading partners didn’t retaliate and have reached out to the United States to “discuss” some of the issues he had raised.

The pause didn’t apply to China, which has retaliated — with 84% hikes. Trump instead raised duties for it 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,” he wrote. “At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the U.S.A., and other Countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable.”

But the trade war isn’t exactly over, and the pause didn’t return the world to the time before Trump touched off the global instability; a 10% across-the-board duty will remain. For Canada and Mexico, goods covered by the U.S., Canada and Mexico trade agreement will continue to have no tariffs, while products that aren't exempt under the trade deal will have a 25% tariff. Canadian energy and fertilizer products will have a 10% tariff.

It wasn’t immediately clear which countries the pause would cover; the White House wouldn’t say. Earlier Wednesday, the European Union voted to impose fresh retaliatory duties, but they aren’t set to take effect until next week.

And separate tariffs on imported autos, steel and aluminum will remain, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said later — while planned tariffs on items like lumber and pharmaceuticals are still on.

It’s not clear what prompted Trump to change his mind — he appeared to dig in just hours earlier, telling Americans “BE COOL” in a Truth Social post, and he suggested not that long ago that the tariffs could be permanent.

“I did a 90-day pause for the people that didn’t retaliate, because I told them, ‘If you retaliate, we’re going to double it,’” Trump said Wednesday. “And that’s what I did with China, because they did retaliate. So we’ll see how it all works out. I think it’s going to work out amazing.”

But markets have been in stunning turmoil — major stock indexes shed trillions of dollars in value, while alarming signals from the bond market set Wall Street on edge.

When a false-at-the-time headline suggesting Trump would take a 90-day pause shot around the internet Monday, markets briefly surged. And a growing chorus of business leaders and Trump’s allies have come out publicly against the tariffs, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Markets soared on the surprising news Wednesday, with the S&P 500 climbing more than 9%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq closing up more than 12% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average ending nearly 3,000 points higher. Among the big gainers: Tesla stock was up 22%. Despite the gains, all three indexes were down from where they were a month ago and at the start of the year, and some investors questioned what the recent volatility could mean for the U.S. stock market longer-term.

"My portfolio of defensive stocks is green so I don’t begrudge today’s market. But I ask you, would you want to own highly volatile US stocks whose price depends on whether POTUS had a good night’s sleep and woke up the next morning to reverse yesterday’s policies?" billionaire investor Bill Gross said on X.

Goldman Sachs lowered its odds of a recession but said it is still forecasting minimal economic growth and a 45% probability of a recession given the remaining tariffs.