NPR News Now - NPR News: 04-09-2025 9AM EDT

Episode Date: April 9, 2025

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This is out of her glass. In Lily's family, there's a story everybody knows by heart. If this story had never happened... All of us wouldn't be here right now. Sammy wouldn't be here. Nina wouldn't be here. Wally wouldn't be here. Anyone that we know wouldn't be here.

So what happens when Lily's mom tells her this story is not true? This American life, surprising stories every week. Live from NPR News in Washington, on Corva Coleman, President Trump's latest round of tariffs went into effect overnight. That comes on top of the minimum 10 percent tariffs that he imposed on nearly all countries last weekend. Now China has announced an additional 50 percent retaliatory tariff on all U.S. goods, bringing its total tariffs on U.S. items to 84 percent. As NPR's Emily Fang reports, the trade war between the world's two largest economies is escalating.

China has showed no signs of backing down after President Trump's most recent round of tariffs on Chinese goods, which now total north of 100 percent. China's new levies of 50% on US imports go into effect starting Thursday. China's government has also filed two complaints with the World Trade Organization, saying the US levies break international law. Earlier, Beijing signaled it was trying to negotiate with the Trump administration, but it switched this week, calling Trump's latest tariffs a, quote, mistake on top of a mistake, exposing what it says is a quote, blackmailing nature.

Emily Fang and Peer News. Mary Lovely is a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. She says during a trade war in 2018, U.S. businesses saw some effects. But she says this time is different for Americans because the tariff rates are very high and could go much higher. Well I think you'll see it most clearly in consumer goods. These were largely spared, not entirely spared in the first trade war, but we're going to see it quickly in electronics, in home goods, in clothing and apparel, lots of things that people buy very often.

Companies, of course, will see it in all kinds of inputs and commodities that they buy from abroad. She spoke to NPR's Morning Edition. The Republican-led House of Representatives has rejected a plan to allow members of Congress to cast proxy votes after they become new parents. Now the House is taking a different approach. NPR's Claudia Grisales reports a new GOP deal scuttled the effort that paralyzed the House floor last week.

Florida Republican Congresswoman Ana Paulina Luna teamed up with House Speaker Mike Johnson to revive an obscure 19th century House rule to let absent members pair up to record their intent to vote. It's not what we initially had wanted, but it's a step forward in the right direction. Luna had moved on from a bipartisan plan with Colorado Democrat Brittany Patterson, who argued the House needs proxy voting. And make it more accessible to young families and more reflective of the American people. Although President Trump expressed support for the bipartisan effort, Johnson argued

it was unconstitutional. Luna and Pedersen publicly disagreed and then came where Luna cut a deal to rely on vote pairing instead. Claudia Desales, NPR News. This is NPR. The U.S. Supreme Court is going to allow President Trump to fire thousands of federal probationary employees. That decision overturns an order by a lower federal court that affected workers at six

federal agencies. But a different case is still in the works. A different federal judge had ordered some of the same employees to be rehired by the government. It's not clear what the federal agencies will do now. The National Weather Service won't provide Spanish-language translations of its weather alerts anymore, including emergency information. The Trump administration has ended a contract with a company that provided the translations.

An old album has returned to the top of the pop charts. NPR's Stephen Thompson explains that's thanks to a deluxe edition containing new songs. For the last two weeks, Playboy Cardi has topped the Billboard albums chart with a brand new record called Music. But this week, it's been replaced by an album that topped the chart more than a year ago. Ariana Grande recently reissued her 2024 album Eternal Sunshine with five new songs and an extended version of another. With six fresh tracks and fresh vinyl and CD editions for sale, the album leapt from

number 87 all the way back to number one. The Wicked Star also landed all six of those new tracks in the Billboard Hot 100, with Twilight Zone hitting the top 20. Stephen Thompson, NPR News. And I'm Korva Coleman, NPR News from Washington. Do you remember when discovering a new artist felt like finding buried treasure? NPR News from Washington.