Bill Ackman urged Donald Trump to delay the administration’s plans for tariffs temporarily.
On Wednesday afternoon, the president took that action.
“Thanks on behalf of all Americans,” Ackman remarked in a post on X following the announcement made through the president’s Truth Social account.
President Trump surprised market analysts with a social media update around 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, implementing a 90-day delay on his reciprocal tariff initiatives while maintaining the 10% duties on most of the globe that were enacted the previous weekend.
He also declared he would raise tariffs on China to 125% unilaterally due to “the disrespect” shown by China. The brief ease on the significant tariffs contributed to a rise of over 8% in the S&P 500 index during intraday trading.
During a press briefing, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stated that Trump’s choice was not a reaction to the considerable market declines seen after the launch of his expansive tariff policy the week prior, asserting, “this was his strategy all along.”
The 90-day delay permits the US to formulate a “bespoke” agreement with over 75 nations currently in trade discussions with the US. “This was brilliantly executed by Donald Trump. Textbook, Art of the Deal,” Ackman commented in a follow-up post.
“We now recognize who our preferred trading partners are and who poses challenges,” Ackman added in a later post. “This sets the stage perfectly for trade discussions in the next 90 days.”
Ackman, a billionaire hedge fund manager and head of Pershing Square Holdings (PSHZF), who supported Trump during the 2024 campaign, began advocating publicly for a slowdown in the implementation of the President’s tariffs starting Sunday.
In a sequence of posts on X, he described the April 9 launch of “reciprocal” tariffs as a “mistake,” requested a 90-day pause, and cautioned of “a self-induced, economic nuclear winter.”
This week, several other billionaires shared their concerns as the scale of Trump’s proposals became clear, with increased probabilities of a recession. JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon stated Wednesday morning that the likelihood of a US recession is a “likely outcome,” warning that a negative market response to trade policies “could worsen if we don’t achieve some progress.”
