0:01

A Massachusetts man runs a business

0:04

making high -end board games in China. Or

0:06

rather, he did. So we're in survival

0:08

mode right now. What's the Trump administration

0:10

doing to avoid the economic damage of

0:12

the president's trade war? I'm Steve

0:14

Enskeep with Amartinus, and this is up

0:16

first from NPR News. Western

0:21

European nations want more support for Ukraine.

0:23

They're meeting today in London as the

0:25

U .S. pushes for a ceasefire in Russia's

0:27

invasion. How much territory is the United

0:29

States pressing Ukraine to give up? And

0:32

mourners lined up before dawn at St.

0:34

Peter's Basilica to visit Pope Francis as

0:36

he lies in the state and pay

0:38

their final respects. I want to

0:40

see him alive, but I would love to

0:42

at least see his body. But

0:44

I'm praying for him, my soul is

0:46

with him. Stay with us. We've got all the

0:48

news you need to start your day. We

0:55

don't know how the U .S. will

0:57

get out of a trade war, but

0:59

the Trump administration jolted markets yesterday

1:02

just by admitting the problem. The Treasury

1:04

Secretary told business leaders that the

1:06

U .S. and China need some way

1:08

out of triple -digit tariffs. Multiple

1:10

forecasts are calling for sharply lower economic

1:12

growth. The International Monetary Fund is the

1:14

latest. It tracks the world economy and

1:16

sees economic trouble for the globe. For

1:18

more on what this means in the

1:21

U .S., we're joined by NPR Scott

1:23

Horsley. So Scott, I mean, the U .S.

1:25

economy seemed to be chugging right along before the

1:27

president launched his trade war. How does it look now? Yeah,

1:30

not so strong. The IMF lowered its forecast

1:32

for GDP growth in the U .S. by

1:34

almost a full percentage point as a

1:36

result of that trade war. Businesses

1:39

and consumers in the U .S. now have

1:41

to pay an extra tax on almost

1:43

everything we import. And the

1:45

IMF's chief economist, Pierre Olivier Grinch, says

1:47

that's going to lead to higher

1:49

inflation, at least in the short run,

1:51

and slower economic growth. For the

1:53

United States, the tariffs represent a supply

1:55

shock. that reduces

1:57

productivity and output

1:59

permanently and increases price

2:01

pressures temporarily. Other

2:04

countries are also taking a hit from Trump's tariffs.

2:06

The IMF stopped short of predicting a global recession,

2:08

but says it expects trade growth to slow

2:10

sharply in the coming year. So what does this

2:13

mean then for businesses here and also around

2:15

the globe? It means a lot

2:17

of questions. You know, we started

2:19

this month with the president imposing very

2:21

high tariffs on goods from all

2:23

around the world. Many of those tariffs

2:25

have since been suspended, but Most

2:27

imports still face attacks of at least

2:29

10%, and of course goods from

2:31

China are facing tariffs of 145%. That

2:34

has brought a lot of trade between the

2:36

world's two biggest economies to a near standstill. I

2:38

talked with Jonathan Silva, who runs

2:40

a company in Massachusetts that manufactures high

2:42

-end board games in China. He's

2:45

got three or four truckloads of

2:47

Finnish games that are basically stranded now

2:49

because of those triple digit tariffs,

2:51

and his customers, like Target and Costco,

2:53

have halted more than $16 million

2:55

worth of orders in just the last

2:57

couple of weeks. So we're in

2:59

survival mode right now. It's really difficult

3:01

overnight to be able to communicate

3:03

to a consumer that what they expected

3:05

to purchase at one price is

3:07

now double in price or higher. This

3:09

is the time of year when

3:11

silver would ordinarily be placing orders with

3:14

Chinese manufacturers for games to be

3:16

delivered before next Christmas. Instead, those

3:18

plans are stuck in tariff limbo. That

3:20

30 day hold right now, hoping that

3:22

cooler heads prevail and we come to

3:24

a number That allows us

3:26

to continue on with business and to

3:28

bring these great items to families to

3:30

enjoy. So Silva mentioned their cooler heads.

3:33

Scott, any sign of those cooler heads? Well,

3:35

possibly. As you all mentioned, Treasury Secretary

3:37

Scott Besant has emerged as kind of

3:39

the administration's good cop on trade. And

3:42

yesterday, Bloomberg and others reported that

3:44

Besant was telling investors he sees the

3:46

current level of tariffs between the

3:48

US and China as unsustainable. and suggesting

3:51

there could be some de -escalation. That

3:53

was welcome news on Wall Street,

3:55

where the Dow Jones Industrial Average surged

3:57

more than a thousand points. Markets

4:00

were also probably relieved that Trump said

4:02

after the closing bell yesterday that he

4:04

has no intention of firing Federal Reserve

4:06

Chairman Jerome Powell. As big

4:08

a drag as this trade war is

4:10

for the global economy, the IAF's current

4:12

interest says it doesn't have to be

4:15

that way. Growth prospects could immediately improve

4:17

if countries ease from their current trade

4:19

policy stance and promote a

4:21

new, clear, and stable

4:23

trade environment. That'd be

4:25

good not only for businesses and consumers in the

4:27

U .S. who want to buy stuff from China, but

4:29

for American farmers and factories that want to sell

4:31

their products around the world. Alright, that's MPR Scott

4:33

Horsey. Scott, thanks a lot. You're welcome. Senior

4:43

officials from several countries will meet in

4:45

London today to talk of a

4:47

possible ceasefire between Russia and Ukraine. These

4:49

talks will include the United States But

4:52

not the top diplomat. It will no

4:54

longer involve Secretary of State Marco Rubio, nor

4:56

President Trump's special envoy, Steve Wittkopf. The

4:58

U .S., you will recall, has wanted to

5:00

go its own way in brokering a ceasefire,

5:02

while Europeans have focused more on supporting

5:04

Ukraine. And the Europeans take the lead in

5:06

the meeting today. All right. Joining us

5:08

now to share some of the details about

5:10

this meeting is journalist Vilum Marks in

5:13

London. So, Vilum, who's hosting? Who's taking

5:15

part? And what's the goal here? Well, the

5:17

talks will be hosted by the British

5:19

Foreign Secretary, David Lamby. They'll include officials from

5:21

the US, Ukraine, France, Germany. The

5:23

most senior US official attending now

5:25

will be President Trump's envoy for Ukraine,

5:27

retired General Keith Kellogg. And

5:30

really at the heart of these talks will

5:32

be an attempt to knit together the sometimes

5:34

kind of disparate European and American visions for

5:36

how a peace roadmap could be built. The

5:38

Europeans have, for the last couple of

5:40

months, continued to really insist that support

5:43

for Ukraine, whether that's military, political or

5:45

economic, is going to

5:47

be crucial to ensure that Russian President

5:49

Vladimir Putin is forced to negotiate

5:51

on more equal terms, shall we say.

5:53

But members of the US administration have been briefing

5:55

the media over the past few days that

5:58

there are now options on the table, at least

6:00

from their perspective, that would

6:02

include the recognition by Ukraine

6:04

of territory currently held by the

6:06

invaders, Russia. Okay, now how have

6:08

Ukrainians responded to that? Well, not well,

6:10

as you might imagine, Ukrainian President

6:12

Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly ruled out the

6:14

possibility that Ukraine would, for instance, recognise,

6:17

let's say, the Crimean Peninsula or parts

6:19

of Eastern Ukraine as Russian territory. Some

6:22

of those were first annexed back

6:24

in 2014, but there have also been

6:26

some pretty surprising recent statements out

6:28

of Moscow, meanwhile, with President Putin saying

6:30

on Russian state TV, he'd always

6:32

quote, looked positively on any peace initiatives,

6:34

and he hoped Ukrainian leaders would do

6:36

the same. The Kremlin's chief

6:38

spokesperson said those comments from the

6:40

Russian president indicated a willingness to

6:43

re -engage in direct talks with Ukraine

6:45

about, at the very least,

6:47

ending strikes on civilian targets. Okay,

6:49

so then what's the United States' role

6:51

in all of this? Well, you

6:53

know, the absence of Secretary of State

6:55

Rubio seems significant. Just last week

6:57

in Paris, he'd said the Americans wanted

6:59

discussions to move forward within days.

7:01

Otherwise, there was a possibility the US

7:03

would move on. Steve Witkoff

7:05

the White House has said will be

7:07

traveling to Moscow not to London this

7:09

week for a fourth face -to -face meeting with

7:11

Putin and meanwhile President Zelensky said that

7:14

none of the potential ideas the US administration

7:16

has been floating in the media have

7:18

actually been formally shared with him or his

7:20

team and so it's kind of unclear

7:22

whether the US is trying to stand between

7:24

these two warring parties as the mediator

7:26

might or instead to sort of create a

7:28

peace framework almost unilaterally that Russia and

7:30

Ukraine would be asked to simply accept. So

7:32

if all that's unclear, then how clear

7:35

are the chances of peace looking right

7:37

now? Well, pretty obscure, frankly.

7:39

President Putin's called the unilateral temporary

7:41

ceasefire, you might remember, on Saturday

7:43

evening for the entirety of the

7:45

Easter weekend. But Britain's defense secretary

7:47

John Healy told parliament here in

7:49

London yesterday that British military intelligence

7:51

indicated there'd been no let up

7:53

whatsoever in those attacks over the

7:55

Easter weekend. The Ukrainians cried

7:57

foul and said there had been no

7:59

ceasefire from Russia. It had simply been

8:02

a Russian propaganda exercise. All right.

8:04

That's journalist Bill Marks in London. Thank

8:06

you very much. Thank you. The

8:14

body of Pope Francis was moved

8:16

this morning to lie in state in

8:18

an open casket at St. Peter's Basilica.

8:25

A choir sang, and Cardinals chanted

8:27

in Latin as Pope Francis'

8:29

body was carried in a red,

8:32

velvet -lined, open casket. For

8:34

three days, mourners will be able to pay their

8:36

respects. His funeral will be on

8:38

Saturday, and hundreds of thousands of people

8:40

are expected to attend. NPR's Ruth Sherlock

8:42

joins us now from St. Peter's Square.

8:44

Ruth, what's it like where you are right now? Well,

8:47

people are waiting in their long, snaking

8:49

line around the Vatican. Some are holding

8:51

umbrellas to shield from the sun as

8:53

they wait to pay their final respects

8:55

to Pope Francis as he lies in

8:57

state. I spoke with Margarita Harvey

8:59

from El Salvador, has been waiting since

9:01

a little after dawn, and she says it

9:03

was always her dream to see the Pope.

9:05

I want to see him alive, but I

9:07

would love to at least see his

9:09

body. But I'm praying

9:11

for him. My soul is with

9:13

him. Francis is lying

9:15

in a single wooden casket rather than

9:17

the three nested coffins that's been traditional

9:20

of previous Pope burials and the coffin

9:22

at St. Peter's Basilica is facing the

9:24

church pews at ground level not raised

9:26

up and this is typical of his

9:28

papacy of trying to keep a little

9:30

of the ordinary even in this very

9:32

extraordinary job. Francis liked people and you

9:34

can see that in how he moved

9:37

through the crowds in this very square

9:39

this past Easter Sunday just the day

9:41

before he died. He was in his

9:43

Pope Mobile without the bulletproof glass, hugging

9:45

members of the public. The Vatican

9:47

now says Francis was so weak that

9:49

he'd actually worried about whether he could

9:51

manage this. But afterwards, he reportedly told

9:53

his personal health care assistant, thank you

9:55

for bringing me back to the square. The

9:58

funeral's on Saturday. Seems like

10:00

it's shaping up to be quite a big,

10:02

big event. That's right, you

10:04

know, this has the potential to be

10:06

an important political moment, too. There

10:09

may be some sensitive meetings that could

10:11

happen on the sidelines. President Trump has

10:13

confirmed he will attend, as will the

10:15

Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, which sets up

10:17

the potential for them to meet for

10:19

the first time since those tense public

10:21

exchanges at the White House in March.

10:23

This is going to be Trump's first foreign

10:25

trip of his second term, and the

10:28

first time he's in the same space as

10:30

other key leaders like European Commission President

10:32

Erslavon Deleon, for example. Since the first time,

10:34

since he announced those controversial tariffs,

10:36

the Italian government says over 100 foreign

10:38

delegations are coming and that, like

10:40

you said, some 200 ,000 people may

10:42

attend. Yeah, 200 ,000 people. I mean,

10:44

that sounds like a major logistical challenge. And

10:46

this funeral, Pope Francis is also breaking

10:48

with tradition in where he's choosing to be

10:50

buried. Tell us about that. Exactly,

10:53

well, popes are traditionally buried here

10:55

in the Vatican grottoes beneath St. Peter's

10:57

Basilica, but Francis has chosen to

10:59

be laid to rest outside the Vatican

11:01

at the church in an immigrant

11:03

area of Rome, the Basilica of St.

11:05

Mary major, where he'd go to

11:07

pray to the icon of the Virgin

11:09

Mary before and after each trip

11:11

out of Rome. I spoke with Ruben

11:13

Martinez, a Spanish priest, who'd arrived

11:15

there to pay his respects to Francis.

11:17

With a voice of... Before I was

11:19

asked about other He's saying, you know,

11:21

another judge. to ask me if

11:23

this is a sad moment. And I

11:25

told him, no, this is a

11:27

moment of hope. We're Christians, he told

11:29

me. This is about Pope Francis'

11:31

ascent to heaven. All right,

11:33

that's NPR's Ruth Sherlock at St.

11:36

Peter's Square. Ruth, thank you very much

11:38

for all the details. Thank you so much.

11:44

And that's up first for Wednesday, April

11:46

23rd. I'm Steve Hinske. Your next listen

11:48

is Consider This from NPR News. We

11:50

hear it up first, give you three

11:52

big stories of the day, and consider

11:54

this, dives into a single news story

11:57

and what it means to you. Listen

11:59

on the NPR app or wherever you

12:01

get your podcasts. Today's episode of Up

12:03

First was edited by Rafael Nam,

12:05

Kevin Drew, Ryland Barton, Arzu Resvani, and

12:07

also Jenae Williams, who was produced

12:09

by ZF Butch, Mia Dumas, and Christopher

12:11

Thomas. We get engineering support from

12:13

Damien Herring in our Technical director is

12:15

Carly Strange. Join us again tomorrow.