WeekDay AM: 10 Things you need to know this morning
Car tariffs, crisis preparation, and the battle over Jamaican rum

 
today's trade story

Trump announces 25% tariffs on car imports to US

What happened
Donald Trump has said he will impose a 25% tariff on all cars and some automobile parts that are shipped into the US. The tariffs will come into effect next month – including on vehicles from American brands whose cars are assembled outside of the country.

Who said what
Trump called the tariffs "very exciting" during remarks from the Oval Office. "Anybody who has plants in the United States, it's going to be good for," said the president.

The measure is aimed at "pushing companies to set up more factories" in the US, said The New York Times, "but the tariffs could disrupt supply chains for carmakers, chill their investments and raise costs for consumers by thousands of dollars".

What next?
On 2 April – a day Trump has dubbed "Liberation Day" – the president is expected to unveil a wide range of tariffs that he is calling "reciprocal". Trump "has long argued that the US is being cheated by its trading partners and that tariffs are the best remedy", said The Guardian.

Because tariffs are "in essence a tax on consumers", Trump's Liberation Day offers the "sort of liberation that most corporate bosses and investors would happily do without", said The Economist. The upside is that 2 April "will at least bring certainty" about the president's economic path.

The tariffs will likely "put downward pressure on US economic growth", according to ABC News. Goldman Sachs has "hiked its odds of a recession from 15% to 20%".

 
 
today's europe story

Stockpile 72 hours worth of supplies, EU tells citizens

What happened
The European Commission has issued advice to its people to store enough food, water and essentials for 72 hours so as to ready themselves for potential threats including floods, fires, pandemics – and military attacks.

Who said what
Citizens should take "proactive measures to prepare for crises, such as developing household emergency plans and stockpiling essential supplies", said the commission in its Preparedness Union Strategy. "About 72 hours of self-sufficiency is what we recommend," Hadja Lahbib, the European commissioner for preparedness and crisis management, told reporters.

The strategy was "partly inspired by plans in Germany and the Nordic countries", said The Guardian. Those nations have recently circulated pamphlets and built apps to advise their citizens on what to do in the event of military attacks or other national crises.

What next?
The commission is also calling for a Europe-wide preparedness day to help raise awareness, the inclusion of the topic in school curriculums and the development of an overall EU stockpiling strategy.

 
 
Today's gambling story

UK's biggest lottery jackpot up for grabs

What happened
National Lottery organisers said one lucky person could win the UK's biggest ever lottery prize in Friday's EuroMillions draw. The jackpot is now at an estimated £202 million after nobody claimed the top prize of £182 million on Tuesday, meaning it rolls over. The potential haul exceeds the existing record of £195 million (won in July 2022).

Who said what
If one ticket holder takes the prize on Friday, they "would be crowned The National Lottery's biggest winner of all time", said Andy Carter, senior winners' adviser at National Lottery operator Allwyn. "This colossal amount of money would make any lucky ticket-holder richer than some of the UK's biggest and richest names, such as Harry Styles, Adele and Harry Kane."

What next?
The potential winner would be the third UK EuroMillions jackpot this year after one ticket-holder won £83 million in January and another took home £65 million last month.

 
 

It's not all bad

A genetically modified pig liver functioned successfully for 10 days in a brain-dead patient, marking a milestone in organ transplantation. The ground-breaking procedure, performed in China, suggests pig livers could serve as temporary support for patients awaiting transplants or recovering their liver function. Scientists modified the organ to prevent rejection and it delivered all key functions. Experts say the advance could pave the way for the wider use of pig organs in medicine.

 
 
under the radar

The battle over Jamaican rum

In Jamaica, rum is "more than just a drink", according to the Caribbean National Weekly. It's an essential part of the island's identity and culture – "a symbol of national pride and craftsmanship".

So it's no surprise that a legal dispute over what makes a rum an "authentic" Jamaican rum is causing quite a stir.

National Rums of Jamaica (NRJ) is appealing a ruling made last year by the Intellectual Property Office that rum produced on the island but "aged outside of Jamaica" can "no longer be called Jamaica Rum".

The amendment to prohibit overseas ageing was pushed forward by the Spirits Pool Association (SPA), the trade organisation that "seeks to speak" for the island's six rum distilleries. It argues that a stronger geographical indication (GI) designation is needed for Jamaican rum "to be officially recognised in the US and EU" as a "premium product", securing it "better protection against competitors", said the BBC.

It's true that strong GIs can "anchor production in that region", preventing a product from "becoming generic and losing its value". But "not everyone is on board" with the move, said Caribbean National Weekly. NRJ, which owns the Long Pond brand and 73% of Clarendon, has a business model that's dependent on "exporting rum in bulk and ageing it overseas". It argues that rum aged outside Jamaica is still Jamaican rum.

For now, SPA is hopeful that a "compromise can be reached", said the BBC, even if the outcome is that both sides are "not totally happy".

 
 
on this day

27 March 1998

The US Food and Drug Administration approved Viagra as a treatment for erectile dysfunction. By 2022 there were nearly 3.5 million prescriptions regularly being filled in America. One US company has recently developed a more discreet version of the recognisable "little blue pill": a wafer-like film that dissolves in the mouth.

 
 
Today's newspapers

Rachel Reeves has been accused of "balancing the books" at the expense of "the poor", say The Guardian and The Mirror, as the chancellor's Spring Statement dominates the front pages. Some "250,000 people have been pushed into poverty" by her "benefits squeeze", says The i Paper. The chancellor is "on the ropes", says the Daily Mail. Meanwhile, says the Daily Star, breeding seabirds are "about to make our lives hell". The tabloid warns that "psycho" seagull season is set to begin.

See the newspaper front pages

 
 
tall tale

Fare play

An Irish restaurant has "turned the tables" on the CEO of Ryanair, Michael O'Leary, said The Independent. Luvida, in County Meath, pretended to add charges for "extra leg space, priority booth seating and quiet area reservation" to the budget airline boss's bill, according to its post on Facebook. Luvida even added "Terminal 1" to the top of the mock receipt containing O'Leary's order: a bottle of wine, battered prawns, mushroom toast and sea bass. The restaurant manager said she had let O'Leary off paying the "cheeky charges" – just this once.

 
 

Morning Report was written and edited by Arion McNicoll, Harriet Marsden, Rebekah Evans, Ross Couzens and Chas Newkey-Burden, with illustrations by Julia Wytrazek.

Image credits, from top: Win McNamee / Getty Images; Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images; Shaun Curry / AFP / Getty Images; Illustration by Julia Wytrazek / Getty Images.