Trump Issues 8-Pointer 'Non-Tariff Cheating' Warning Amid 90-Day Pause

US President Donald Trump on Sunday issued an eight-point 'non-tariff cheating' list, warning countries of non-tariff-related offences that could spoil relations with the US. The warning came days after Trump announced a 90-day pause on his sweeping tariffs on all countries, barring China.

In the eight-point list, Trump mentioned currency manipulation - an accusation he has made previously on some countries for deliberately devaluing their currencies to make their exports more competitive while making US products costlier abroad. Another warning is about Value-Added Taxes (VATs) that are applied to imports but refunded on exports in many nations.

The Republican leader also warned countries of dumping below cost, export and other government subsidies, protective agricultural standards, counterfeiting, piracy, and IP theft, and transshipping to evade tariffs.

He also warned of protective technical standards, citing Japan's 'bowling ball test' - a claim Trump made first in 2018.

According to Trump, Japan uses a so-called "bowling ball test" to cheat US auto companies out of selling cars to Japanese consumers. "They take a bowling ball from 20 feet up in the air and drop it on the hood of the car. If the hood dents, the car doesn't qualify. It's horrible," he had said.

NON-TARIFF CHEATING:

1. Currency Manipulation
2. VATs which act as tariffs and export subsidies
3. Dumping Below Cost
4. Export Subsidies and Other Govt. Subsidies
5. Protective Agricultural Standards (e.g., no genetically engineered corn in EU)
6. Protective Technical Standards…

— Donald J. Trump Posts From His Truth Social (@TrumpDailyPosts) April 20, 2025

Trump's 90-day pause on tariffs

On April 9, Trump announced a 90-day pause on his sweeping tariffs on all countries, barring China - a move that had seemed nearly impossible. According to Trump, who had introduced the slew of tariffs to address the alleged trade imbalance with the US, over 75 countries had negotiated and not retaliated against him - which led to the pause. During the 90 days, a significantly reduced reciprocal tariff of just 10 per cent would be in effect, he said.

A growing alarm inside the Treasury Department over the developments in the bond market was reportedly the only factor that made Trump hit a pause on his reciprocal tariff regime.

"The bond market is very tricky, I was watching it. The bond market right now is beautiful. But yeah, I saw last night where people were getting a little queasy. We didn't have access to lawyers, or it was just wrote up. We wrote it up from our hearts, right? It was written from the heart, and I think it was well written too, but it was written from the heart," the US President said while addressing reporters after tariff pause announcement.

US-China tariff war

Trump's administration is locked in a war of sky-high reciprocal tariffs with superpower rival China that has unnerved world markets.

While Trump put a pause on his tariffs on all countries, he announced an immediate increase in tariffs on China to 125 per cent, up from the previously declared 104 per cent, and later to a whopping 145 per cent after Beijing retaliated to his sweeping "Liberation Day" worldwide levies.

"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. At some point, hopefully in the near future, China will realize that the days of ripping off the US and other countries, is no longer sustainable or acceptable. China wants to make a deal. They just don't know how quite to go about it...President Xi Jinping is a proud man. They don't know quite how to go about it, but they'll figure it out," Trump had said.

Amid the ongoing conflict, Trump said that he was confident the two countries could make a deal to end a bitter trade war.

"Yeah, we're talking to China. I would say they have reached out a number of times," he said.

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