NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-05-2025 11AM EDT

Episode Date: April 5, 2025

NPR News: 04-05-2025 11AM EDTLearn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

A couple months ago here at Planet Money, we stumbled across our favorite kind of economic mystery. Jack, what is this? A deal that seemed way too good to be true. What I'm seeing here, at least, is that it's very high clarity. Join us on our adventure. Doctor, show me what you got. To find out exactly how much a diamond is worth. Planet Money from NPR, wherever you get your podcasts. Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Noor Rahm. Stock indexes dropped sharply this week after President Trump announced he's imposing a new round of tariffs on products from nearly all countries. China announced it's imposing a 34% tax on U.S. goods starting next week. NPR's Ron Elving reports Trump believes it will be worth it in the long run. They say the retaliation we're seeing from China and elsewhere will be transitory.

They say our trading partners will knuckle under and lower their own tariffs. And most important, they say American companies will bring home the jobs that they've shifted overseas and that other countries will shift their manufacturing to the U.S., creating jobs here rather than in their own countries. NPR's Ron Elving. Many American shopkeepers are getting ready to order their supplies for the critical holiday shopping season. Now, many are trying to calculate how much these shipments will actually cost, given

sweeping new tariffs on virtually all imports. NPR's Alina Seljuk reports. Tariffs get paid by American importers, and often it's small business owners like Alfred Mai in San Francisco. He sells card games for families and parties at his company ASM Games. And right now, he's trying to figure out how much to stock up for the all-important holiday season. I'm faced with the decision of having to spend all this cash, a lot of cash. Or save a lot of it to pay for tariffs when his cards arrive from China.

Mai says during the pandemic and the supply chain crisis that followed, he was able to keep prices steady, cutting into his own profit margin. But now... We don't really have any more margins to give. And so for the very first time, we might have to raise prices. And I hate the idea of that. But that's the reality for many companies like his. Eilene Selig, NPR News. Early this morning, the Senate approved a budget blueprint that calls for reductions in federal spending and multi-trillion dollars in tax cuts.

The vote was 51 to 48 in the Republican controlled body. It fell mostly along party lines, but two Republicans voted with the Democrats in opposing the measure. With cleanup underway in parts of Tennessee hit by deadly tornadoes, more severe weather is in the forecast for the region. Mariana Bacallio of Member Station WPLN reports. Some areas of Tennessee are expected to get up to eight inches of rain through the weekend, which could lead to flash flooding. Patrick Sheehan, director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency, says the flooding could be worse than what hard hit areas have already experienced this week. We do expect that much of Tennessee will experience or be near severe

weather and flooding is almost guaranteed to happen or be worsened from what we're experiencing right now. Damaging winds will be the main concern when storms are strongest Saturday afternoon. The National Guard is stationed across the state and ready for potential rescue missions. For NPR News, I'm Maryana Bacca-Yau in Nashville. This is NPR News. The United Nations issued a call today for nations around the world to help Myanmar after the devastating earthquake last month. Officials now say more than 3,300 people died.

A British-based activist whose case has been cited by Vice President Vance as an important freedom of expression case has been convicted of breaching an abortion clinic protection zone. Vicki Barker reports from London. Livia Tosichi-Bolt says all she did was stand outside an abortion clinic in the city of Bournemouth holding a sign reading, Here to Talk if You Want. Her prosecution, she said, was a violation of her right to free speech, specifically speaking out against abortion. Vice President JD Vance had highlighted her case as an example of how freedom of expression is under threat in the UK. But the judge who convicted her noted this case had not

been about the right or wrongs of abortion. Rather, Tosichi Bolt had violated an order banning all protests outside the clinic. She was freed on the condition that she not re-offend in the next two years. She says she will continue her quote, fight for free speech. For NPR News, I'm Vicki Barker in London. Hundreds of demonstrations are planned across the US today to protest the actions of President Trump and his adviser, billionaire, Elon Musk.

Organizers say they've planned events in all 50 states and the District of Columbia to show their anger at Trump's efforts to reshape the federal government in the two and a half months he's been in office. I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington. Do you remember when discovering a new artist felt like finding buried treasure? I'm Nora Rahm, NPR News in Washington.