Trump's New Tariffs, China Reacts To Tariff Ruling, State Of The Union Poll
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
What did you just say? I said I was born ready.
What are the implications of Trump's new tariffs?
You need to say that with more force. Make conviction as if I really believe.
I was born ready.
How did China react to the Supreme Court's tariff ruling?
Go for it. I was born ready.
It's true. All right.
What does the latest State of the Union poll reveal?
I'm ready. Republicans had a moment of hope for the midterm elections. The Supreme Court got rid of President Trump's unpopular tariffs.
Then Trump imposed new tariffs. What's the political cost of a tax on imports? We have analysis from Marla Eisen.
How do Trump's tariffs affect the midterm elections?
I'm Steve Inskeep with Leila Fadal, and this is Up First from NPR News. The president's new global tariff rate is far lower than the taxes he raised, then re-raised, then lowered and raised on imports from China. Trump lost leverage just as he was announcing a trip to meet China's president. What does that mean for his trade war?
And heading into President Trump's national address tomorrow night, a new poll finds most Americans say the state of the union is not strong. We'll break down the numbers and what they mean in a midterm election year. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. It took President Trump almost no time to resume his signature economic policy, raising and lowering tariffs on an almost daily basis.
The Supreme Court struck down Trump's tariffs on Friday, saying he violated the Constitution and the law that he cited.
What legal challenges do Trump's tariffs face?
Trump immediately claimed the authority of a different law to impose a global tariff of 10 percent. And then one day later, he said, let's make that 15. The lawyer who won the case before the Supreme Court tells NPR those tariffs are also illegal and his clients may sue again.
NPR senior political correspondent Mara Liason is covering the political costs. Good morning, Mara.
How are Chinese businesses adapting to U.S. tariffs?
Good morning. Okay, so there are already questions about whether this new move by the president is legal. Can the president raise tariffs on his own?
He says he can. He says he's now going to put, as you said, global tariffs of 15% under a different section of the Trade Act. But These new sections are much more cumbersome than the sweeping powers he had claimed that the Supreme Court struck down. For instance, some of these new tariffs will only last 150 days before Congress has to weigh in. Other ones could be permanent, but they require months of investigations. And if he's going to China in April to meet Xi Jinping, he just lost a big piece of his leverage
What factors will influence Trump's upcoming trip to China?
because he won't be able to issue tariffs by proclamation for any reason he wants whatsoever.
Okay, so that's the international impact that you mentioned there. Let's go domestic now. How much does it matter that we're in a midterms year?
It matters a lot. The politics are very complicated. At first glance, the ruling was seen as a godsend for Republicans. They were not going to have to defend Trump's unpopular tariffs. Maybe prices would go down. But that optimism among Republicans lasted about five minutes because Trump immediately said that not only was he going to put more tariffs on under a different authority, but that means he has to ask Congress to vote on the tariffs. And Republicans on Capitol Hill will have to show their loyalty to Trump by voting to impose the tariffs on taking even more ownership of an unpopular policy that a majority of voters believe have driven their costs up. Now, Trump might back off. He might not have the votes.
We just saw six House Republicans vote with Democrats against the tariffs on Canada. How are Democrats responding? Well, several Democratic governors, including Illinois' J.B. Pritzker and California's Gavin Newsom, demanded that the White House pay back tariff revenues to their states. The administration pushed back on that, saying that has to work its way through the courts. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries was asked about the impact of tariffs on Fox News Sunday yesterday. Here's what he said.
The trade deficit has not been meaningfully closed. That's number one. Point number two is that we know farmers and small business owners, companies, as well as perhaps most importantly, the American consumer, have been hurt being forced to pay tariffs.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:00–0:03
2
What are the implications of Trump's new tariffs?
0:03–0:10
3
How did China react to the Supreme Court's tariff ruling?
0:10–0:15
4
What does the latest State of the Union poll reveal?
0:15–0:31
5
How do Trump's tariffs affect the midterm elections?
0:31–1:28
6
What legal challenges do Trump's tariffs face?
1:28–1:49
7
How are Chinese businesses adapting to U.S. tariffs?
1:49–2:25
8
What factors will influence Trump's upcoming trip to China?
2:25–14:01
Speakers
8 identifiedMore from Up First from NPR
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