World Report - April 4: Friday's top stories in 10 minutes

Episode Date: April 4, 2025

Global financial markets continue to fall in the wake of Donald Trump's worldwide tariffs.China imposes 34% tariff on US goods. Liberal leader Mark Carney promises to boost funding for CBC Radio-Canada as a way to protect the Canadian identity.Tariffs emerge as key issue on Radio-Canada "Cinq Chefs" program.NDP leader Jagmeet Singh unveils plan to stop what he calls tax haven cheats.South Korean constitutional court upholds Yoon Suk Yeol's impeachment.Jasmine Mooney says she feels lucky compared to some of the women she met during her 12 days in US immigration holding cells.In one week, many Canadians snowbirds will have to register with the US government.

When they predict we'll fall, we rise to the challenge. When they say we're not a country, we stand on guard. This land taught us to be brave and caring, to protect our values, to leave no one behind. Canada is on the line, and it's time to vote as though our country depends on it, because like never before, it does. I'm Jonathan Pedneau, co-leader of the Green Party of Canada.

This election, each vote makes a difference. Authorized by the Registeredleader of the Green Party of Canada. This election, each vote makes a difference. Authorized by the registered agent of the Green Party of Canada. This is a CBC podcast. This is World Report. Good morning. I'm John Northcott. Global stock markets continue to slide in reaction to US President Donald Trump's worldwide tariff plan. Exchanges in Asia and Europe down again after yesterday's turbulent day and North American

markets opening just a short while ago. The CBC's business reporter Scott Peterson following all of this joining us in studio. Scott, what are we seeing? Yeah, we're seeing another meltdown. This, the Dow opened up 950 points to the downside. We've got NASDAQ down two and a half percent. So in this follows the worst market performance just yesterday, where we saw two and a half trillion dollars in market value wiped out. So these are seismic moves. This is not just a one off. And what it's reacting to is there's a lot of fear out there now. The fear index, the VIX index, is at highs that we haven't seen in the last

year. And JP Morgan now is saying that there's a 60% chance that the global economy could go into a recession as a result of this. And they're also saying, they're phrasing it like this. They're saying that this is the biggest tax increase that the U.S. has imposed since 1968 and the Vietnam War. So these are big, big times. Also, we're looking at Bloomberg did an overall survey of $3 trillion of U.S. imports will now have an average tariff rate of about 23%. And that's before the retaliation that we're seeing from China.

So this is going to be passed on to consumers. The anticipation that the markets are saying is this is going to lead to a recession. Already though we're seeing in this country some bad news in terms of the latest job numbers. We are 33,000 jobs were lost in the month of March. That is the biggest loss, monthly loss that we've seen in the last three years. So clearly the indication here is is businesses do not like uncertainty. They have to make investments. So we're starting to see a pullback perhaps from employment into the U.S. and we're seeing that big job loss for the month of March.

Our unemployment rate also ticked up to 6.7%. So lots of worries about that increasing even more just even as the threat of these tariffs shake market confidence. CBC Business reporter Scott Peterson. Thank you, Scott. Thanks, John. As Scott mentioned, China is unleashing a new slew of tariffs and restrictions against U.S. goods. Retaliation for the tariffs imposed by Trump on Wednesday.

Beijing says it will impose additional 34 percent tariffs on all American goods starting next week. It also is putting new controls on some rare earth exports to the United States. Liberal leader Mark Carney says it is essential to protect CBC Radio Canada at this time. Canada's identity and institutions are under attack by foreign interference and instead of defending them Pierre Poliev is following President Trump's lead and taking aim at our institutions like CBC Radio Canada. Carney says if he's elected he will give the public broadcaster an immediate 150 million dollar funding boost. He will ensure long-term stable

funding by enshrining it in law. Carney also says a Liberal government will develop a new governance plan for CBC Radio Canada to improve accountability and streamline processes. This morning, Carney and the other main party leaders are all campaigning in Quebec. Last night, the leaders were grilled en français on a special Radio Canada program. Rafi Boudjikanian has those details. Liberal leader Mark Carney grading himself a 6 out of 10 on his spoken French, promising to improve to a point. I come from Alberta.

I come from Alberta, he tells the Radio-Canada journalists interviewing him. I'm 60 years old. I can still learn. 8 to 9. 8 to 9 in four years. What do the Quebecers want? But asked what he thinks represents Quebecers, he's less specific. Supply management, he says, then adds, it's a nation, it's a distinct society. His Bloc Québécois rival Yves-François Blanchet picks up on that when he's in the hot seat.

Nobody calls Quebec a distinct society anymore, he says. It is its own nation, recognized in the House of Commons. The Bloc has repeatedly tried to capitalize on what it calls carny's Quebec gaffes during this campaign. So far, the Liberals have remained ahead of the Sovereignist Party in voters' intentions. The 78 seats here key to the GRIT's goal of forming majority government. Last night, conservative leader Pierre Poilèvre may have also provided Blanchet some ammunition. Saying an RCMP officer, assigned to protecting his family, wears a turban, and he's against the controversial Law 21 which bans public sector workers in positions of

authority from wearing religious symbols. The performances on Thursday evening by each leader, a preview of the campaign's French language debate in a little less than two weeks. Rafi Boudjoukani on CBC News, Montreal. The Liberals are dropping Rod Loyola as a candidate in Edmonton that comes after the National Post surfaced a video of him at a 2009 anti-NATO protest. In it, Loyola is heard praising Hezbollah and Hamas, two groups listed as terrorist entities in Canada. This is the third candidate the Liberals have lost

since the election was called. NDP leader Jagmeet Singh says he has a plan to stop tax haven cheats. We've got large corporations in Canada that purposely continue to avoid paying their fair share by using tax havens and other loopholes. It is wrong. We're losing billions of dollars a year.

Singh says an NDP government would launch a review of the tax code to close tax loopholes for big corporations. It also will require corporations to prove a genuine business reason for offshore accounts. South Korea's Constitutional Court upholds the president's impeachment. The chief justice says Yoon Suk-yul violated his duty by imposing martial law last December. The move plunged South Korea into political chaos. As the CBC's Murray Brewster reports from South Korea, there's fear the court ruling will deepen the political divide in one of the region's more vibrant democracies.

Today is a very, very important and good day for Korean democracy. See-Hung Mayor Lim Yun-Tak speaking through a translator, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea. He's happy to see the country's conservative president ousted by the top court. Now, former President Yoon Suk-Yul's short-lived imposition of martial law last December was deemed a violation of the rights of the people by South Korea's Constitutional Court. Across South Korea, thousands of police were bracing for possible violence after the court ruling among pro and anti-impeachment protesters. It's been noisy, but peaceful.

Former Canadian diplomat James Trottier says Canada, with its strategic partnership with Korea, should be breathing a sigh of relief that things are no longer in limbo. South Korea's political chaos had basically left a major global economy and a key U.S. and Western ally rudderless. Elections for a new president in this country are expected in early June. Murray Prister, CBC News, Incheon, South Korea. A Canadian held for 12 days by U.S. immigration says she feels lucky compared to many of the women

she met in the holding cells. The 35-year-old Jasmine Mooney was detained on March 3rd after trying to apply for a US work visa at a Mexican border crossing. From that moment on, no one told me anything. It was the same answer every single time. I begged, how long am I going to be in here for? Like what is happening? And it was always the same answer. I don't know your case, I'm just doing my job. Legal experts say Mooney's case is

one example of how people are being treated at border crossings if they are not US citizens. Meanwhile, in one week many Canadian snowbirds will have to register with the US government. But as Sophia Harris reports, it's being challenged in court. We're like 60 to 80 years old. What are we going to do wrong in the United States? David Fine is perplexed by the Trump administration's upcoming registration requirement for travelers. It affects Canadian snowbirds like Fine, who's wintering in Texas. Starting April 11th, certain foreign nationals staying in the U.S. for 30 days or longer,

including many Canadians crossing by land, will have to fill out a lengthy registration form online. Those who don't comply could be fined, even imprisoned. People right now are saying they're not coming back. And that shows you how upset we are. But Fein was happy to hear that several U.S. immigration advocacy groups are suing the Trump administration to try to quash the registration requirement. We feel strongly that this rule was issued in an improper and illegal way.

Michelle LaPoint is legal director at the American Immigration Council. She says the administration failed to seek the required public input on a rule that will affect millions of people. Because they did not do that, what they're ruling out is a system that is arbitrary, it's confusing, it doesn't make sense. On Tuesday, the plaintiffs will ask the court to block the registration rule before its April 11th rollout. The Department of Homeland Security didn't comment on the lawsuit, but defended the rule, saying it aligns with Trump's efforts to enhance the country's safety and security.

Sophia Harris, CBC News, Vancouver. And that is the latest national and international news from World Report. I'm John Northcott. This is CBC News.