--:-- [Up First theme music plays]
--:-- Leila Fadel: New tariffs are now a reality, and President Trump says trade partners are lining up to talk.
--:-- A Martinez: We're doing very well in making, I call them, tailored deals, not off the rack. These are tailored, highly tailored deals.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Which countries want to negotiate? I'm Leila Fadel, that's A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News.
--:-- A Martinez: Now, China is not willing to talk over the 104% tariffs on its goods.
--:-- Leila Fadel: We will not tolerate any attempt to harm China's sovereignty, security and development interests.
--:-- A Martinez: How is China retaliating?
--:-- Leila Fadel: And the Trump administration gets another partial victory from the U.S. Supreme Court.
--:-- A Martinez: The court has ruled the federal government can proceed with firing 16,000 probationary employees, at least for now.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.
--:-- [Up First theme music continues]
--:-- Danielle Kurtzlein: Well, the White House's messaging on this has been confusing. There were several days there where you'd have one administration official saying these tariffs are not negotiable, that they're going to stick around a while.
--:-- Kurt Slavin: But yesterday, the White House seemed to have settled on the idea that, yes, these tariffs are negotiable.
--:-- Leila Fadel: They've said that about 70 countries have reached out for some sort of talks.
--:-- A Martinez: And yesterday Press Secretary Caroline And Levitt insisted that these tariffs have always been open to negotiation.
--:-- Kurt Slavin: The entire administration has always said that President Trump is willing to pick up the phone and talk.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And the president met with his trade team this morning and he directed them to have tailor-made trade deals with each and every country that calls up this administration to strike a deal.
--:-- A Martinez: And that's a narrative that fits with an image Trump really likes to project, which is that he's a master dealmaker.
--:-- Kurt Slavin: But he did say yesterday it's a long list of countries and it could take some time to get through.
--:-- Leila Fadel: So long list, which countries have reached out?
--:-- A Martinez: Well, Trump has said he's spoken to leaders of multiple major trading partners, including Japan, South Korea and Vietnam.
--:-- Kurt Slavin: But one country that has not reached out, according to Trump, is China.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Now, there's been some back and forth on retaliation with them.
--:-- A Martinez: And if China's retaliatory tariffs on U.S. products stays in place, that could very much hurt some U.S. businesses like farmers who send a lot of crops there.
--:-- Kurt Slavin: Yeah. Is Donald Trump getting any pushback from within his own party?
--:-- Leila Fadel: Well, not only that, there's been pushback from within his own team.
--:-- A Martinez: Elon Musk has openly opposed these tariffs. He's the head of Tesla and SpaceX.
--:-- Kurt Slavin: And yesterday on social media he lashed out at top trade advisor Peter Navarro in several really insulting posts.
--:-- Leila Fadel: At one point he called Navarro, quote, dumber than a sack of bricks.
--:-- A Martinez: Now on Capitol Hill, things are much more polite, but Republican anger is starting to show.
--:-- Kurt Slavin: U.S. Trade Representative Jameson Greer faced the Senate Finance Committee in a hearing yesterday, and several Republicans really pressed him on the tariffs.
--:-- Leila Fadel: They asked, for example, when and how the tariffs might go away.
--:-- A Martinez: Now, in addition, there have now been bipartisan bills introduced in both the House and the Senate seeking to restrict the president's tariff authority.
--:-- Kurt Slavin: Those bills, they're unlikely to pass, but they do have a little Republican support, and that represents some cracks in what's usually a very unified GOP.
--:-- Leila Fadel: That's NPR's Danielle Kurtzlein. Thanks a lot, Danielle.
--:-- A Martinez: Thanks a lot, Danielle.
--:-- John Riewicz: Yeah, Beijing really came out swinging today once again, as it had promised.
--:-- Leila Fadel: As you say, you know, China announced that it was adding a 50 percent tariff on top of its other tariffs on U.S. imports, matching Trump's latest two escalations step for step.
--:-- John Riewicz: This takes the base tariff rate on U.S. imports into China up to 84 percent.
--:-- A Martinez: Now, that's different than the base rate on U.S., base U.S. rate on Chinese imports to the U.S., which is 104 percent.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And that's because Trump imposed 20 percent tariffs earlier in the year and China responded differently.
--:-- John Riewicz: Since then, though, it's taken the gloves off.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Here's Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian speaking through an interpreter earlier today.
--:-- Lin Jian: We will not let anyone take away the Chinese people's legitimate right to development.
--:-- John Riewicz: We will not tolerate any attempt to harm China's sovereignty, security and development interests.
--:-- Leila Fadel: We will continue to take resolute and strong measures to safeguard our legitimate rights and interests.
--:-- A Martinez: So in addition to the tariffs that were announced today, Beijing once again blacklisted a handful of U.S. companies, putting them on export control lists or unreliable entity lists.
--:-- John Riewicz: Other countries are choosing to negotiate or offer concessions.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Why is China taking this path?
--:-- A Martinez: Well China casting this whole thing in kind of stark black and white terms.
--:-- John Riewicz: It essentially right versus wrong.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Beijing projects itself as a champion of free and fair trade now and of multilateralism.
--:-- A Martinez: And it accuses the U of engaging in selfish and irresponsible protectionism even blackmail in this case.
--:-- John Riewicz: You know President Trump said yesterday China wants to make a deal and he's waiting for them to call.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Well, China's leadership has also flagged that it's willing to negotiate but not under duress.
--:-- A Martinez: The foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said the U.S. must adopt an attitude of equality, mutual benefit, and respect.
--:-- John Riewicz: I mean, ultimately, I think the Chinese leadership believes that China can tough it out and that in the long run, this trade war is going to damage the U.S. more than China.
--:-- Leila Fadel: It's worth noting, of course, that China isn't the only country taking the path of retaliation.
--:-- A Martinez: The European Union is planning to put sanctions on a range of U.S. goods, from steel to non-alcoholic beer.
--:-- John Riewicz: You said China believes it can tough it out, but with tariffs in these ranges, these numbers, I mean, it's going to be painful.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Yes, there absolutely will be pain from these tariffs and from the retaliation, you know.
--:-- A Martinez: So and that actually sort of the point, according to Guo Shan, who is a partner at the Beijing based research firm Hutong Research.
--:-- John Riewicz: She says tariffs are basically so high now that meaningful negotiations are impossible until one side or the other cries uncle in caves.
--:-- Leila Fadel: It's a strategy escalate to de-escalate.
--:-- A Martinez: Escalate to de-escalate is what's happening.
--:-- John Riewicz: She says Beijing has been preparing for this since the first trade war back in 2018.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And leadership's confident.
--:-- A Martinez: You know, China has been doubling down on policies to strengthen its self-sufficiency.
--:-- John Riewicz: Policymakers feel like they have a lot of ammunition for economic stimulus if they should need it.
--:-- Leila Fadel: The currency's been allowed to weaken.
--:-- A Martinez: The government's been propping up share prices, et cetera, et cetera.
--:-- John Riewicz: So China's been expanding its trade also with diplomatic and diplomatic relations with other countries.
--:-- Leila Fadel: What other reactions have we seen outside of China?
--:-- A Martinez: Well, Asian stocks fell sharply today.
--:-- John Riewicz: Some governments in the region are trying to position their economies to cushion the blow.
--:-- Leila Fadel: India, for instance, cut benchmark interest rates today.
--:-- A Martinez: Governments haven't said a whole lot.
--:-- John Riewicz: They're working quietly, trying to negotiate to get these tariffs lowered or dropped.
--:-- Leila Fadel: That's NPR's John Ruich in Beijing. John, thanks.
--:-- A Martinez: You bet.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: President Trump has set out to drastically reshape the federal workforce.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And yesterday, he got some help in the effort from the U.S. Supreme Court.
--:-- A Martinez: In a brief unsigned order, the court said the administration is free to move forward with the firing of 16,000 probationary federal employees.
--:-- Leila Fadel: But the decision wasn't a total victory for the administration, since, for now at least, the court made no ruling on whether the firings themselves were actually legal.
--:-- A Martinez: NPR's Nina Totenberg has been following the case and joins us now to break it all down.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: Hi, Laila.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Hi, Nina. Okay, so let's jump in here.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: This is only the latest case in which the Supreme Court has taken a so-called emergency action at the behest of the Trump administration.
--:-- A Martinez: And lately, they're winning more than they're losing.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: Yes.
--:-- Leila Fadel: On Friday, the court allowed the Trump administration to cancel millions of dollars in education grants.
--:-- A Martinez: Then two days ago, the court threw out a lower court action temporarily barring the deportation of alleged Venezuelan gang members.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: Though there was a caveat that required all the deportees to have a hearing before a federal judge on their individual deportation orders.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And yesterday, the court threw out a lower court order that barred the administration from firing 16,000 probationary employees.
--:-- A Martinez: The court said that the plaintiffs in the case were not the employees themselves, but nonprofit groups who failed to show that they themselves would be hurt by the firings.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: Okay, let's drill down on this latest one.
--:-- Leila Fadel: What does probationary in this context mean?
--:-- A Martinez: It means the fired employee has to be on the job for a year or less, or in some cases more, time that includes people who are serving in a job that they were promoted to, for instance.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: Okay so the Trump administration asked the Supreme Court to get rid of that lower court order and it did
--:-- Leila Fadel: So what happens now
--:-- A Martinez: Do these fired employees have any recourse left
--:-- Nina Totenberg: Yes, but it's going to take time, and therein lies the rub.
--:-- Leila Fadel: The employees have to first challenge their firings at the Merit Systems Protection Board, which is the federal agency charged with protecting civil servants.
--:-- A Martinez: And for the most part, the most efficient way to do that is systematically with a class action that says, essentially, we are representing all of these similarly situated fired employees and we as a class should be reinstated.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: But in order to be certified as a class, they have to go before an administrative judge at the Merit Systems Protection Board.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And so far, there have been more than 10,000 cases filed since October, including 20 class action suits.
--:-- A Martinez: And I would presume that when the dust settles, there will be lots more class actions.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: A lot of suits.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Can the Merit System Protection Board actually act quickly?
--:-- A Martinez: The MSPB system is meant to be fast, with cases finalized in 120 days.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: And the judge's decisions become final in 35 days, unless there's some intervening action by the Merit Systems Protection Board.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Initially, any appeal would be taken by the MSPB board, but the agency didn't even have a quorum until two days ago.
--:-- A Martinez: And the two board members there for the moment might well cancel each other's votes out.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: And in any event, the law allows a relatively quick appeal to the Court of Appeals for the federal circuit.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And in that setting, for sure, there will be thousands of employees who do have legal standing to sue and have been harmed.
--:-- A Martinez: NPR's Nina Totenberg.
--:-- Nina Totenberg: Thank you, Nina.
--:-- Leila Fadel: And that's Up First for Wednesday, April 9th.
--:-- A Martinez: I'll be Martinez. And I'm Leila Fadel.
--:-- Leila Fadel: For your next listen, consider this from NPR.
--:-- A Martinez: We here at Up First give you the three big stories of the day.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Our Consider This colleagues take a different approach.
--:-- A Martinez: They dive into a single news story and what it means to you in less than 15 minutes.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- A Martinez: Today's episode of Up First was edited by Roberta Rampton, Robbie Griffiths, Anna Yukhananov, Jason Breslow, Lisa Thomson, and Janaya Williams.
--:-- Leila Fadel: It was produced by Ziad Buchh, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas.
--:-- A Martinez: We get engineering support from Neisha Heinis, and our technical director is Carleigh Strange.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Join us again tomorrow.
--:-- A Martinez: This message comes from Lisa.
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--:-- A Martinez: Plus, they back it all up with free shipping, easy returns, and a 100-night sleep trial.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Visit lisa.com for 25% off mattresses, plus get an extra $50 off with promo code NPR.
--:-- A Martinez: That's L-E-E-S-A dot com, promo code NPR.
--:-- Leila Fadel: This message comes from the Hartford.
--:-- A Martinez: Every day, they create unique risk solutions for unique businesses.
--:-- Leila Fadel: They understand the challenges businesses face today and are ready to anticipate the risks of tomorrow.
--:-- A Martinez: Their teams know the ins and outs of specific industries, so The Hartford can help provide insurance solutions for midsize and large businesses.
--:-- Leila Fadel: If a business needs it, chances are they've got it and get it.
--:-- A Martinez: Connect with your underwriter at The Hartford or visit thehartford.com.
--:-- Leila Fadel: This message comes from Rosetta Stone.
--:-- A Martinez: An expert in language learning for 30 years.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Right now, NPR listeners can get Rosetta Stone's lifetime membership to 25 different languages for 50% off.
--:-- A Martinez: Learn more at rosettastone.com slash NPR.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Thanks for listening to Up First.
--:-- A Martinez: We'll be back tomorrow.
--:-- Leila Fadel: I'm Leila Fadel.
--:-- A Martinez: And I'm A Martinez.
--:-- [Up First theme music plays]
--:-- Leila Fadel: Up First is a production of NPR.
--:-- A Martinez: And you can find us on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
--:-- Leila Fadel: Thanks for listening.
--:-- A Martinez: See you tomorrow.
--:-- [Up First theme music continues]
