NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-09-2025 10AM EDT

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

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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 Korva Coleman. Stocks opened higher this morning as President Trump's new tariffs take effect. NPR's Scott Horsley reports the Dow Jones industrial average rose nearly 300 points in early trading. Double digit tariffs on goods from dozens of countries kicked in overnight. U.S. importers are now paying 20% more on most things they buy from Europe, 24% more on imports from Japan, and the tax on goods from China now totals more than 100%.

China punched back, announcing an extra 50% tariff of its own on U.S. exports. That takes effect tomorrow. The escalating trade war has sparked fears of a worldwide economic slowdown pushing the price of crude oil to a four-year low. Investors are also dumping US Treasuries. That's caused a sharp jump in US borrowing costs which will likely make mortgage rates here even less affordable. Scott Horsley in PR News, Washington. Meanwhile, member states of the European Union have also decided to impose retaliatory tariffs

on some $20 billion in U.S. goods. These levies are in response to the 25 percent tariffs that President Trump imposed earlier on steel and aluminum imports. These EU tariffs will come into effect next Tuesday. European officials have cautioned they would prefer to negotiate with the Trump administration. The U.S. Supreme Court is allowing the mass firings of thousands of probationary federal workers to stand, at least for now. It's the latest decision in an ongoing legal battle over the Trump administration's efforts to slash the size of the federal government.

And Piers Christian Wright has more. In a brief order, the justices found that nonprofit groups bringing the legal challenge against the government don't have standing to sue over the firings of 16,000 probationary workers. The nonprofits and labor unions argue the Office of Personnel Management didn't have the authority to order the firings and didn't give employees adequate notice. The high court's decision blocks a California federal judge's order to reinstate the workers, but didn't reach the question of whether the firings were lawful as the case moves through

the lower courts. Kristen Wright, NPR News, Washington. Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke at an education technology conference yesterday in San Diego. She's defending cuts to her agency. As NPR's Janaki Mehta reports, the Trump administration has often said education should be determined by the states. What is taught in classrooms already is up to states, and 90 percent of school funding

comes from state and local sources. But the federal government helps oversee laws and ensures funding goes where it's needed. With the U.S. Department of Education already cut in half, McMahon was asked what would happen to schools without that kind of federal oversight. Some states will do better than others, and that's a fact. So, McMahon asked private sector donors, including those sitting in the room, to start doing their part to help fund education. Janaki Mehta, NPR News.

You're listening to NPR. Rescue teams in the Dominican Republic are continuing to dig through the wreckage of a collapsed nightclub. At least 113 people were killed Monday night when the roof caved in in Santo Domingo. Some of the victims include popular merengue singer Ruby Perez. He died along with a local Dominican governor and two former Major League Baseball players. The Keystone Oil pipeline is still shut down in North Dakota. There was an unexplained rupture yesterday. NPR's

Giles Snyder reports the federal agency that oversees the nation's pipeline system is sending a team to investigate the cause of the break. The pipeline and hazardous materials safety Administration is responsible for millions of miles of oil and gas pipelines like Keystone. It's sending investigators to look into what happened near Fort Ransom, North Dakota. Officials say an employee heard a mechanical bang and shut down the pipeline within a couple of minutes. The company that operates Keystone estimates that about 3,500 barrels of oil spilled into an agricultural field in a rural

area. The industry watchdog group Pipeline Safety Trust says the safety agency is under-resourced and underfunded and several media reports say it has lost several key leaders including the top pipeline safety official to buyout offers from Elon Musk's Doge cost-cutting team. Trial Snider, NPR News. The measles outbreak is spreading in Texas. There are more than 500 cases now reported. Several have surfaced in new counties. That includes among several children who attend a daycare center in Lubbock, Texas. I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News in Washington.