NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-09-2025 11PM EDT

Episode Date: April 10, 2025

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Live from NPR News in Washington, I'm Shave Stevens. President Trump has paused his big tariff plan amid market turmoil. But NPR's Franco Ordonia reports that Trump is also doubling down on China. Just hours after he urged Americans to quote, be cool about an escalating trade war, Trump reversed course and issued a 90-day pause on the majority of tariffs. I thought that people were jumping a little bit out of line. They were getting yippy, you know, they were getting a little bit yippy, a little bit afraid. He later downplayed those concerns, claiming this was their strategy all along.

The administration is keeping a baseline 10% tariff on imports, but that's much less than tariffs he was threatening on dozens of countries. Yet while he paused most of those increased tariffs, he doubled down on Beijing, raising China's tariff to 125%. He said it was punishment when China announced their own retaliatory tariffs. Franco, Ordonez, andPR News, The White House. Many small U.S. business owners are breathing a sigh of relief after President Trump ordered a 90-day pause on most new tariffs. But companies that rely on factories in China are bracing

for a massive financial hit. More from NPR's Windsor Johnston. Casey Ames is the owner of Harkla, an Idaho-based company that specializes in developmental and sensory products for kids with special needs. He says the majority of his goods are manufactured in China, and shifting to domestic production is not an option. We've tried to look to manufacture in the U.S. before, and it's just end product ends up being not working for our customers. Hopefully, we can try and bring back to America or keep this going.

But there's a lot of U.S. small businesses that are just going to get decimated by this new policy. Domestic production costs far exceed those in countries like China, leaving many small business owners in the U.S. squeezed between soaring tariffs and unsustainable overhead. Windsor-Johnston, NPR News. The U.S. Senate appears poised to confirm a billionaire astronaut as the next administrator of NASA.

As NPR's Jeff Brumfield reports, the nominee had faced questions over his ties to Elon Musk. Billionaire Jared Isaacman has flown to space twice with Musk's company SpaceX, and Isaacman's payments company, Shift4, does business with the spaceflight firm. During his confirmation hearing, Isaacman said Musk would not influence him, but when asked repeatedly by Democratic Senator Edward Markey whether Musk was in the room when Trump offered him the job as NASA Administrator, he refused to answer directly.

Senator, I was, again, my meeting was with the President of the United States. I'm assuming that you don't want to answer the question directly because Elon Musk was in the room. During the hearing, Isaacman said he wants to return astronauts to land on the moon while simultaneously pursuing a human mission to Mars. Jeff Brumfield reporting. This is NPR. A federal appeals court has vacated a lower court ruling to reinstate tens of thousands

of probationary workers fired from 20 federal agencies. The appeals court ruled two to one that the administration would likely succeed in showing that the lower court did not have jurisdiction in the case. The ruling clears the way for the Trump administration to keep dismissed employees off the payroll. A decision on the merits of the case, which was brought by 19 states and the District of Columbia, is expected in the coming weeks. The British royal couple's four-day visit to Italy has included a private session with Pope Francis, NPR's Ruth Sherlock reports. Danielle Pletka As King, Charles is also the head of the Church of England.

He and Queen Camilla were scheduled to meet Pope Francis during their state visit to Italy, but this meeting was postponed because the 88-year-old pope is convalescing after battling double pneumonia. But then, in the end, the pope invited the royal couple for a private audience in Vatican City. The encounter reportedly lasted about 20 minutes and included a private exchange of gifts. A statement from the Vatican says, the Pope expressed his best wishes to the royal couple on this, their 20th wedding anniversary.

And the Pope reciprocated His Majesty's wishes for a speedy recovery. King Charles is undergoing treatment for cancer. Ruth Sherlock, NPR News, Rome. US futures are higher in after hours trading on Wall Street. On Asia-Pacific markets, shares are mostly higher, up over 8% in Tokyo. This is NPR News.