Friday Briefing: Trump’s tariffs rattle the markets

Plus, Bruce Springsteen's "Lost Albums."

View in browser|nytimes.com April 4, 2025 By Justin Porter Good morning. We're covering global reactions to Trump's tariffs, and the ousting of South Korea's president. Plus, Bruce Springsteen's "Lost Albums." The New York Times U.S. stocks nose-dived after Trump's tariffs rollout Wall Street tumbled to its worst day since the pandemic yesterday in response to President Trump's major round of tariffs on U.S. imports, as countries reeling from the blow weighed countermeasures. Stocks in Asia and Europe also fell. Some European leaders vowed to retaliate after Trump slapped a 20 percent tariff on the E.U. "If you take on one of us, you take on all of us," Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, said. China, which faces a new 34 percent tariff on top of the blanket import tax imposed earlier this year, vowed to respond to "safeguard its own rights and interests." Britain said that negotiations with the U.S. would continue. The S&P 500 fell 4.8 percent, its worst drop since June 2020, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic. The reaction suggested that the scale of the tariffs had come as a surprise. Apple led a tech sell-off, falling about 9 percent. Source: FactSet • By The New York Times Reactions: Prime Minister Mark Carney said that Canada had introduced a 25 percent tariff on cars and trucks and called for a new global trading order without the U.S. President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico announced plans to increase domestic production of food, energy, textiles and other items in a bid to blunt the impact of tariffs. France's president, Emmanuel Macron, called on European companies to suspend all investments in the U.S. "until things have been clarified." Asia hard hit: The punishing tariffs on Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and others in the region threaten their position as manufacturing hubs for the U.S. market and as an alternative to China. Trump's tariffs also hit garment makers in Bangladesh and Sri Lanka hard. See which countries have the highest tariff rates. Vehicles: New tariffs of 25 percent on all automobiles made outside the U.S. took effect yesterday. Trump said the tariffs would encourage investment in U.S. factories, but analysts said car buyers would end up paying more. Here's what else to know about the tariffs. More on the Trump administration Trump fired six National Security Council officials after meeting with a far-right activist who presented a list of people she believed were disloyal to him. The E.U. is considering hitting Elon Musk's X with a fine that could surpass $1 billion. The Trump administration threatened to withhold funding from public schools unless officials verified the elimination of all programs that promote diversity, equity and inclusion. Secretary of State Marco Rubio traveled to Brussels for talks with NATO foreign ministers. In Greenland and Canada, anti-MAGA parody hats have become popular. Check out Trump's latest approval ratings in the polls. Track Trump's actions since he took office. A boy wounded in a strike at a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City. Saher Alghorra for The New York Times An Israeli strike hit a shelter in Gaza An Israeli airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in Gaza City killed dozens of people yesterday, local health authorities said. The Israeli military said it was looking into reports about the incident and could not immediately provide a comment. The deadly strike took place as Israel was ramping up its offensive in Gaza. The health ministry of the territory said the bodies of 27 people arrived at a hospital after the strike, which hit a school in the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, where civilians had been sheltering. Videos verified by The Times showed people carrying victims, including children, to ambulances as fires burned in the background. Syria: Israel carried out what appeared to be one of its deepest and deadliest raids into the country. Former President Yoon Suk Yeol in Seoul last month. Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images South Korea's highest court ousted the president South Korea's Constitutional Court voted unanimously to remove Yoon Suk Yeol from office. The court's decision cannot be appealed, and the country will now shift gears toward holding a national election to choose his successor within the next 60 days. Moon Hyungbae, the acting chief justice, said Yoon had violated the "constitutional order" and "betrayed the trust of the people." Here's the latest. Context: Yoon is the second president in the country's history to be removed through impeachment. He was suspended and impeached after he unexpectedly declared martial law on Dec. 3, having accused the opposition-controlled National Assembly of stymying his government. Reactions: Anti-Yoon protesters who were gathered outside the court cheered and shook their fists when the decision was announced. Some were in tears as they hugged each other. One protest leader led the chant, "We won!" MORE TOP NEWS Nearly 30 tornadoes were confirmed after the first wave of the storm, which will extend into the weekend. Brad J. Vest for The New York Times U.S.: Tornadoes and flooding swept across the Midwest and South, killing at least seven people. Russia: An envoy met in the White House with a senior Trump aide this week, the first time in years that a Kremlin official was known to have traveled to the U.S. for talks. Hungary: The government said that it would pull out of the International Criminal Court, hours after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel arrived for a visit. Thailand: Bangkok welcomed Myanmar's military leader for a regional summit, in what could be an attempt to manage the flow of refugees from his country. Britain: A report by medical experts cast doubt on the test results that helped convict the nurse Lucy Letby of the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of seven others at a hospital. Ukraine: The war has devastated the country's environment. Experts call it ecocide. Royals: Prince Harry expressed relief that a British commission would investigate a dispute at a charity he co-founded. New York City: Mayor Eric Adams said that he would run for re-election as an independent. Tech: The A.I. Futures Project spent the past year trying to predict how A.I. will transform society. The answer is gloomy. India: Representatives of a Hindu group have been deported from Bolivia over shady land deals with Indigenous communities. Discovery: On a hike with her family, a 3-year-old stumbled across a 3,800-year-old Egyptian amulet. SPORTS NEWS Gary A. Vasquez/Imagn Images, via Imagn Images, via Reuters Connect Baseball: Shohei Ohtani's walk-off home run kept the Dodgers undefeated. Soccer: Lionel Messi's Inter Miami is in danger of a Champions Cup exit after its loss to L.A.F.C. World Cup: The U.K. looks set to host the Women's World Cup for the first time. MORNING READ Billy H.C. Kwok for The New York Times The surf scene in Hong Kong — a territory that includes more than 250 islands — is not ideal. Surfers ride waves called slabs, which quickly break on rocks. They coast on them for a few seconds and take what they can get. One surfer said it was all about "turning nothing into something." Lives lived: Richard Bernstein, a Times correspondent, critic and author, died at 80. CONVERSATION STARTERS Prima ballerina: At the Dutch National Ballet, Olga Smirnova, a former Bolshoi star, has her peers rapt: "It's like watching da Vinci work." Supermarket tourism: The experience of foreign food shopping has become a key part of many travels. French twist: In the home of L'Oreal, Lancôme and Chanel, the American brand Glossier has found an audience. What's his age again?: Blink-182's Mark Hoppus recounts his personal struggles and the band's history in a memoir. ARTS AND IDEAS Sara Krulwich/The New York Times Bruce Springsteen's 'Lost Albums' Fans have long known that Bruce Springsteen withheld songs throughout his career. Now, he is opening his vault. Springsteen announced yesterday that he would release "Tracks II: The Lost Albums" in June. Of the 83 songs featured on these seven albums, 74 have never been released in any form. Among them are working tapes from Springsteen's fruitful period before "Born in the U.S.A." and a hip-hop-influenced album from the early 1990s. We hope you've enjoyed this newsletter, which is made possible through subscriber support. Subscribe to The New York Times. RECOMMENDATIONS Kelly Marshall for The New York Times Cook: You're just 10 minutes away from a bowl of sticky toffee pudding. Watch: "The Luckiest Man in America" is a dramatization of a real-life game-show incident. Mature: We asked neurologists to share their tips to improve brain health. Travel: Everyone who visits Japan goes to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka. Expand your itinerary. Style: Jackets inspired by firemen are a trend. Play the Spelling Bee. And here are today's Mini Crossword and Wordle. You can find all our puzzles here. That's it for today's briefing. Natasha will be back on Monday. — Justin Reach Natasha and the team at briefing@nytimes.com. Need help? Review our newsletter help page or contact us for assistance. You received this email because you signed up for Morning Briefing: Europe Edition from The New York Times. To stop receiving Morning Briefing: Europe Edition, unsubscribe. To opt out of other promotional emails from The Times, including those regarding The Athletic, manage your email settings. To opt out of updates and offers sent from The Athletic, submit a request. 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