What happened
President Donald Trump yesterday ordered the Commerce Department and U.S. trade representative to assess all foreign trading partners to determine "reciprocal tariffs" he would impose on countries deemed to be treating the U.S. unfairly. The review would look at tariffs other countries levy on U.S. exports plus other criteria like regulations, taxes and exchange rates.

Who said what
For the "purpose of fairness," Trump told reporters, "I will charge a reciprocal tariff, meaning whatever countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them. No more, no less." The tariffs would seek to address the wide U.S. trade deficits, a "longstanding trade irritant for the president and his economic team," The Wall Street Journal said.

They could also "ignite a global trade war and add to America's rebounding inflation problem," CNN said. "Reciprocity may sound appealing, but remember who pays tariffs: It's the American importer, and the burden eventually falls on the consumer," said Erica York of the Tax Foundation. "It's like shooting yourselves in the foot because someone else is shooting themselves in the foot."

What next?
The studies were expected to be finished by April 1. Trump's "ambitious" individualized global tariffs "could shatter the rules of global trading," The New York Times said. "Policymakers from both parties," The Washington Post said, have credited the "decades-long U.S. promotion of low tariffs on most items" with "giving American consumers access to inexpensive goods from all over the world." Critics say they hurt U.S. manufacturing.

What happened
The Senate yesterday confirmed Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services secretary, putting a noted vaccine skeptic in charge of America's massive public health system. The 52-48 vote was mostly along party lines, with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) joining all Democrats in voting no. Kennedy was sworn in yesterday afternoon.

Who said what
Kennedy has "earned a formidable following with his populist and sometimes extreme views on food, chemicals and vaccines," The Associated Press said, and his "audience only grew during the Covid-19 pandemic" as he worked to "erode trust in vaccines as well as the government agencies that promote them." His movement has "married the far left and the far right," The New York Times said, but "mainstream Democrats denounce him as a conspiracy theorist and science denier."

Kennedy's confirmation "underscores Trump's hold on the Republican Party," The Washington Post said. Some GOP senators concerned about Kennedy's vaccine views said he assuaged their fears. McConnell was not among them. As a "survivor of childhood polio" who has "watched vaccines save millions of lives from devastating diseases," he said, "I will not condone the re-litigation of proven cures" and "scientific miracles."

What next?
Kennedy has pledged to "tackle the chronic disease epidemic, rid grocery stores of ultraprocessed foods and root out conflicts of interest in federal agencies," but "has offered few specifics," the Times said. Some allies urged him to concentrate on "less contentious topics like chronic disease and the food supply," but his "vaccine safety" supporters "want to see him focus his energies" on undermining vaccines.