President Trump’s tariffs have caused U.S. markets to plummet. How to prepare for a potential recession, and how the tariffs might have an outsized impact on a small African nation.Plus, Semafor’s Elana Schor joins to discuss major news from Washington this week including Sen. Cory Booker’s record-length speech, and a push for proxy voting in the House. Today’s episode was hosted by Shumita Basu.
Full Episode
Hey there, it's Shamita. I've got a quick request for you. If Apple News Today is an essential part of your morning routine, follow the show in Apple Podcasts. And if you have another 30 seconds, leave us a rating and a review too. It helps other people find our show and it helps us know what you like about it. Thanks. Good morning. It's Friday, April 4th. I'm Shamita Basu.
This is Apple News Today. We begin with the immediate fallout from Trump's sweeping tariffs enacted on Wednesday. Markets slid with U.S. stocks seeing their steepest decline in market value since March of 2020. JPMorgan economists said yesterday they believe there's a 60 percent chance of a global recession.
President Trump defended the tariffs while standing outside Air Force One yesterday, saying they put America in the driver's seat.
The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom. And the rest of the world wants to see, is there any way they can make a deal?
But lots of economists, from more liberal ones to more conservative ones, are waving red flags, saying the math just doesn't add up. Here's some reaction from CNBC's Jim Cramer on CNN yesterday.
The president said, listen, it's going to be reciprocal. So you do it. We do it. And that was going to be so good. And I really believed in it. And I feel like a sucker tonight because I am not a free trader and I do not believe in free trade. And I was just as tough, if not tougher than his people. But they screwed it up and they really made they did it a totally ill-advised way.
And I was very let down as someone who really, truly believes the free trade is awful for the American working person. This is what they came up with. Jeez, come on. Have some gumption. Have some math.
Global reaction to the tariffs has been mixed. China quickly retaliated, hitting all U.S. imports with a 34 percent tariff. But The Wall Street Journal reports that other countries for the moment aren't jumping to retaliatory measures. The prime minister of Australia, for example, said his country wouldn't join a, quote, race to the bottom by retaliating.
Likewise, Japan and India, which both face tariffs upwards of 20 percent, have so far indicated no plans to invoke their own tariffs back at us. Today, American leaders and economists are watching for two key moments, a jobs report out this morning and later a speech on the economic outlook by Fed Chair Jerome Powell, particularly after the worst day for the markets in five years.
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