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Trump tariff bomb, Adams liberation and a shingles vaccine booster

 
Today's GLOBAL TRADE story

Trump rolls out new tariffs on virtually all imports

What happened
President Donald Trump yesterday unveiled a baseline 10% tariff on all imported goods and steeper "reciprocal" import taxes for specific countries, including 20% for the European Union, an extra 34% for China, 24% for Japan, 46% for Vietnam and 50% for Lesotho. Hours after his announcement, the Senate voted 51-48 to quash Trump's earlier 25% tariffs on Canadian goods, with four Republicans joining the Democrats. Trump's 25% tariffs on imported cars and auto parts went into effect this morning.

Who said what
Trump "meted out the massive tariffs he has dreamed of for decades" with the "panache of a gameshow host, promising that they would restore fairness to U.S. trading relationships" and revive U.S. manufacturing, Politico said. His Rose Garden speech took place "shortly after the stock markets closed," avoiding the "visual of cratering markets that could have flashed across television screens as Trump spoke." Asian markets and U.S. stock futures dropped sharply following his announcement.

The tariffs amount to a "historic tax hike that could push the global order to a breaking point" while kickstarting a "painful transition" to higher U.S. prices on "middle-class essentials such as housing, autos and clothing" and "disrupting the alliances built to ensure peace and economic stability," The Associated Press said. The tariff rates are "shockingly high compared to what people were expecting," said Peter Tchir at Academy Securities, and the formula to determine them is "inexplicable in many ways."

The Senate vote to kill Trump's Canada tariffs was "largely symbolic," given his veto and opposition in the GOP-led House, The Wall Street Journal said. But it still "marked a significant rebuke" of Trump's "expansive effort to overhaul U.S. trade policy with friends and foes alike."

What next?
The tariffs are a "breathtaking political gamble" for a president elected on a "wave of public anger over inflation," The Washington Post said. The "early reaction from mainstream economists and business groups was grim, while industries that will enjoy new protection against foreign competition applauded."

 
 
Today's CRIMINAL JUSTICE story

Judge ends Eric Adams case, Trump leverage

What happened
U.S. District Judge Dale Ho yesterday dismissed federal corruption charges against New York City Mayor Eric Adams, as requested by President Donald Trump's Justice Department. But Ho said he found the Trump administration's decision "troubling" and dropped the case "with prejudice," rejecting DOJ efforts to retain the ability to reintroduce the charges.

Who said what
Emil Bove, a Trump DOJ appointee, had ordered prosecutors to drop the charges "without prejudice" because prosecuting Adams would hamper his ability to aid Trump's immigration crackdown. Several top prosecutors in New York and Washington quit rather than carry out the order. 

Judge Ho wrote that he couldn't force the government to pursue the charges, but "everything here smacks of a bargain: dismissal of the indictment in exchange for immigration policy concessions." Keeping the case open, he said, would "create the unavoidable perception" that Adams was "more beholden" to Trump than to "his own constituents." Adams celebrated the ruling, saying he "did nothing wrong" and was "gonna win" reelection in November.

What next?
Ho's ruling was the "best-case scenario" for Adams, but "how it played out did him no favors with voters," The New York Times said. The "sordid soap opera" has "perhaps irreparably damaged" his already weak standing with New Yorkers.

 
 
Today's Health Story

Shingles vaccine cuts dementia risk, study finds

What happened
Getting vaccinated against shingles appears to significantly reduce the chances of developing Alzheimer's and other forms of dementia, according to a study published yesterday in the journal Nature. The study, based on the health records of 280,000 people in Wales, found that those who received an older live-virus vaccine, Zostavax, were 20% less likely to develop dementia within seven years than those not vaccinated.

Who said what
Previous research suggested that "shingles vaccinations might reduce dementia risk," including a 2024 study that found even greater protection from the newer vaccine Shingrix, The New York Times said. But the latest study overcame limitations in earlier observational data by taking advantage of a "natural experiment" in Wales, where health officials allowed 79-year-olds to get vaccinated but not 80-year-olds, effectively creating a randomized trial among two groups born weeks apart.

A 20% dementia reduction from the shingles vaccine would be "quite important," especially as "we don’t really have much else at the moment that slows down the onset of dementia," Oxford researcher Dr. Paul Harrison, who wasn't involved in this study, told the Times. People should get vaccinated regardless, Dr. Aarati Didwania of Northwestern University told NBC News. "Shingles is a terrible, painful and debilitating condition that can lead to horrendous long-term pain."

What next?
Further research is needed to understand why viruses like shingles and other members of the herpes family appear to boost dementia odds, why the shingles vaccine offers protection and the efficacy of Shingrix.

 
 

It's not all bad

In India, where cervical cancer death rates are among the highest in the world, thousands of doctors are undergoing training to get more women vaccinated against human papillomavirus. Cervical cancer is preventable, with most cases caused by HPV. The training aims to "build confidence" among physicians, Sutapa Biswas, the co-founder of the Cancer Foundation of India, said to The Guardian. The doctors are learning about the vaccine and also ways to fight misinformation about it.

 
 
Under the radar

Tuberculosis, the most deadly infectious disease on the planet, is still alive and well. Just this week, a case was reported at Waukegan High School in Illinois. While TB can be treated with antibiotics, resistance is becoming more of an issue. And Donald Trump's health policies could increase the spread globally.

The bacterial infection spreads through the air and mostly affects the lungs, though it can also impact other organs. With proper health care, TB is treatable; without it, it has an approximately 50% death rate.

A report by the World Health Organization found a 10% surge in pediatric tuberculosis in 2023 compared with the previous year. In January, Kansas experienced "one of the largest recorded tuberculosis outbreaks" in U.S. history, said ABC News. Cases are rising globally because of a "disruption of diagnostic and therapeutic services due to armed conflicts, Covid-related avoidance of direct medical care and a reduction in financial support," William Schaffner, a professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said to Healthline.

While TB is curable, the remedy involves "six months of a multidrug regimen," said Slate. Using just one drug can lead to bacteria becoming resistant. Also, not everyone infected shows symptoms, and asymptomatic carriers help spread the disease. 

USAID was responsible for funding many global efforts against tuberculosis, but Trump has essentially dismantled the federal agency. The cuts are "likely to cause thousands of unnecessary deaths and a rise in TB infections," said CNN, "including in the U.S."

 
 
On this day

April 3, 1973

The first mobile phone call was made. It was placed in New York City by Martin Cooper, an employee of Motorola, who called AT&T's Bell Laboratories in New Jersey on a brick-size mobile phone he and his team had invented. Today, there are more than 8.5 billion mobile subscriptions worldwide.

 
 
TODAY'S newspaperS

Elon Musk "may be headed for DOGE exit," The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says on Thursday's front page. "Musk intervention in court race falls flat for GOP," the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel says. "Democrats see a sliver of light in the darkness," USA Today says. Wisconsin "setback raises questions about Musk's future," The Washington Post says." Musk backlash stings Tesla," The Wall Street Journal says, as Donald Trump "slaps broad tariffs on imports," aiming to "topple the age of globalization."

► See the newspaper front pages

 
 
Tall tale

Tongue-in-shriek

A California woman with the world's longest tongue can do all sorts of tricks with it, from playing Jenga to flipping a plastic cup. Chanel Tapper, 34, showed off her talents — and 3.8-inch-long tongue — in a video for Guinness World Records. "Honestly, the best reaction I could ever get when someone sees my tongue is screaming," she said. "I actually do like when people yell or scream in shock or horror sometimes."

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Theara Coleman, Nadia Croes, Catherine Garcia, Scott Hocker, Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, Justin Klawans, Devika Rao, Rafi Schwartz and Peter Weber, with illustrations by Stephen Kelly and Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images; Victor J. Blue / Bloomberg via Getty Images; Cavan Images via Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images