Trump’s tariffs on China; New executive actions : NPR

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Today’s top stories

President Trump told reporters at the White House yesterday that the U.S. will have a fair deal with China. The president’s high tariffs have sparked a trade war between the world’s two largest economies. Beijing has a 125% tariff on American goods, which came in response to the 145% tariff the Trump administration put on Chinese goods. It is unclear whether policy changes will come with Trump’s change in tone.

• 🎧 There are two main reasons for the shiftNPR’s Asma Khalid tells Up First. If the tariffs stay in place, trade between China and the U.S. will virtually halt. The change in tone is also fundamental to the stock market and the economic uncertainty that Trump’s tariffs created. The president initially acknowledged that there could be short-term economic pain, but it would be worth it. Khalid says his team has been boasting about striking deals. Anna Ashton, who was with the U.S.-China Business Council for years, says the White House’s constant threats and “wild swings” in commitment to those threats make it unlikely that China’s President Xi Jinping will come to the table to negotiate.

Trump and Vice President JD Vance are pushing Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to accept a U.S.-backed peace deal. On Truth Social, Trump lashed out at Zelenskyy after he rejected a proposal to accept Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine. The tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine came as both countries worked with European officials yesterday in London to discuss ways to end the war.

• 🎧 The White House has not publicly offered specifics on the peace planbut it clearly heavily favors Russia on paper, NPR’s Charles Maynes says. For Ukraine, it appears that acknowledging the Crimean peninsula is a non-starter. Trump wants peace now and sees leverage over Kyiv as the quickest way to get there, which is why Maynes believes the president is asking a lot of Ukraine and so little of Russia.

Yesterday, Trump signed a sweeping list of executive actions targeting higher education and K-12 schools. The actions include proposals to Delete Programs college and new discipline guidance for public schools. One of the higher education orders directs Education Secretary Linda McMahon to “overhaul” the college accreditation system. Another action threatens to revoke federal university grants if schools don’t complete “full and timely disclosure of foreign funding.”

• 🎧 NPR’s Elissa Nadworny says the Trump administration is trying to create ways to hold colleges accountable for “ideological overreach” and to increase “intellectual diversity” on campus. An action targeting K-12 schools calls for revoking previous policies aimed at reducing racial disparities in discipline practices like suspensions and expulsions, Nadworny says. Some other executive actions focus on bolstering workforce training and improving AI in schools. The collection of actions focuses on cementing Trump’s conservative agenda regarding education in the U.S.

Today’s listen

Every Friday evening for an hour, 19-year-old Kennia Camacho takes to the mic in the broadcast studio of radio station KQBH for her show Crisis Communicatorwhere she can speak out for herself and her community of Boyle Heights in Los Angeles. According to data from the LA Department of City Planning, the neighborhood is more than 93% Hispanic. Over 85% of households do not speak English at home. Over recent months, fears of ICE raids in Los Angeles have emerged. Many in the community spend more time at home. Camacho created the show in 2023 as a high school senior. Listen to how she has worked to uplift and address concerns blanketing her community ever since.

Deep dive

For the first time in five years, the Department of Education says it will resume collections on defaulted student loans. Starting May 5, the department can start taking funds from borrowers’ tax refunds, Social Security benefits and eventually wages. The change will impact 5.3 million borrowers who went into default before the pandemic. NPR spoke with experts on the topic. Here’s what they say you should know:

• 🎓 The department says it will reach out to the borrowers who are in default before May 5, via emails and social media posts, “reminding them of their obligations.”
• 🎓 People can check their status by logging into StudentAid.gov. The dashboard should show how much you owe. If you are in default, there should be a warning message.
• 🎓The three primary ways to get out of default are to repay the loans in full, loan consolidation and rehabilitation. The consolidation option involves paying off the defaulted loans with new repayment terms. Rehabilitation requires the borrower to make multiple consecutive on-time payments of an amount based on income.

3 things to know before you go

1. In the 1980s, a large pickup truck hit Stephanie Garber’s car while she was driving. Garber wasn’t injured, but the other driver was furious and said the accident was her fault. While waiting for help to arrive, she began to cry. A woman, her unsung hero, swooped in with compassion and a cup of tea to help her.
2. Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company behind the weight loss drug Zepbound, is suing four telehealth companies for allegedly selling illegal copies of the drug produced by compounding pharmacies.
3. What are some of your most memorable moments with your mom? NPR wants to hear from you about the love that was shared. It could be featured in a Mother’s Day story.

This newsletter was edited by Suzanne Nuyen.