NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-03-2025 1AM EDT

Episode Date: April 3, 2025

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Support for NPR in the following message come from the estate of Joan B. Kroc, whose bequest serves as an enduring investment in the future of public radio and seeks to help NPR produce programming that meets the highest standards of public service in journalism and cultural expression. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Dan Ronan. President Trump has unveiled a sweeping program of tariffs against 185 nations on Wednesday. NPR's Tamara Keith says the White House insists this plan will work and it will help bring manufacturing jobs back to the U.S. Starting Saturday, every item imported into the U.S. from every single country in the world will be hit with at least a 10% tariff. On top

of that, starting a week from now, a long list of countries with higher barriers to trade will face even higher tariffs. So take Vietnam, a country where a lot of American companies moved manufacturing after Trump put tariffs on China in his first term. According to a chart that Trump held up in the Rose Garden event, products coming into the U.S. from Vietnam would now face a tariff of 46 percent. European leaders and others around the world are reacting to President Trump's tariff announcement. In Brussels, the European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the tariffs are a major blow to the world economy and the European nations are preparing countermeasures.

We are already finalizing the first package of countermeasures in response to tariffs on steel and we're now preparing for further countermeasures to protect our interests and our businesses if negotiations fail. Among the numerous ongoing court cases challenging the federal government's cuts is Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty. The state broadcaster says it has still not received some $77 million in congressional funding even after it obtained a court order blocking the administration freezing their operations. NPR's Emily Fang reports. A few weeks ago President Trump issued an executive order directing the federal agency

that oversees Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty to shut themselves down. The latter sued, and a district court ruled the agency had acted unlawfully in freezing funds Congress appropriated for Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty. But the broadcaster says the federal agency still has not given it its money despite the court order and they've started furloughing staff. Altogether, these state broadcasters reach more than 400 million listeners and readers globally, often in repressive countries.

Emily Fang and Pierre News, Washington. At midnight Eastern time, the U.S. began imposing 25 percent tariffs on imported cars and trucks. A similar 25 percent tariff on imported vehicle parts is scheduled to begin May the 3rd. Some economists are forecasting the price of a new car will increase between $2,500 and $20,000 because of the tariffs with luxury vehicles including Audi, BMW and Mercedes Benz seeing the highest jump in sticker prices. Parts components are also scheduled to go up in May. From Washington, this is NPR News.

The Trump administration confirms that Amazon has put in a bid to buy the Chinese social media platform TikTok. The move comes as a U.S. ban on TikTok is set to go into effect on Saturday. The official, who was not authorized to speak publicly, said the offer came in a letter to Vice President J.D. Vance and the Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick. The existence of an Amazon bid surfaced as Trump was scheduled on Wednesday to meet with senior officials to discuss the upcoming deadline for the TikTok sale. New research finds the wealthiest Americans only live as long as the poorest northern and western Europeans. This despite spending more money in the U.S. on health care. NPR's Rob Stein has more on the study. Researchers at Brown University analyzed data collected from more than 73,000 older adults in the United States and Europe between 2010 and 2022.

They weren't surprised to find that the wealthiest people in both the U.S. and Europe tended to live longer than the poorest, but they were surprised by this. The wealthiest Americans didn't live as long as the most affluent Europeans and only tend to have longevity of the poorest Western and Northern Europeans. That's despite the fact that the US spends more than any other wealthy country on health care. Rob Stein, NPR News. A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed corruption charges against New York Mayor Eric Adams. NPR News.