Stocks soar as Trump pauses most tariffs

USA Today

10-04-2025

Stocks soar as Trump pauses most tariffs | The Excerpt
On Thursday's episode of The Excerpt podcast: USA TODAY Money Editor Charisse Jones takes a look at the market response to President Donald Trump's move pausing reciprocal tariffs for most countries. A jailed U.S. citizen has been released in a prisoner swap with Russia. USA TODAY National Immigration Reporter Lauren Villagran discusses how tourists detained by ICE are revealing shocking detention conditions. International tourists are turning away from the U.S. as a travel destination. The Masters golf tournament tees off.
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Taylor Wilson:
Good morning. I'm Taylor Wilson, and today is Thursday, April 10th, 2025. This is The Excerpt.
Today, markets rebounded after Trump's pause on tariff hikes, plus what tourists detained by ICE are revealing about the immigration system. Travelers are increasingly turning away from the US as a destination.
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The stock market bounced back yesterday as President Donald Trump paused his reciprocal tariffs for 90 days. I spoke with USA TODAY money editor, Charisse Jones, for more. Charisse, thank you so much for hopping on today.
Charisse Jones:
Absolutely.
Taylor Wilson:
So another big day as it pertained to tariff news. What did we hear yesterday, Wednesday, on the tariff front?
Charisse Jones:
The tariffs have been a real roller coaster and President Trump announced that the tariffs that he was going to impose, basically on the entire world, of up to 50%, were now going to be on pause for 90 days. So there is a basic 10% levy that's going to be on everybody, but this really big uptick that a lot of countries were expecting did not happen, except for China, which has been engaged in a real tit-for-tat with the United States. And basically we'd increased tariffs for them up to 104% and then they said that they were going to increase tariffs on our goods up to 84%, and we decided to increase tariffs on Chinese goods to 125%. And that means a lot because we buy so much from China, everything from iPhones that are assembled there to sneakers. So this is something that can really have an impact on a lot of consumers.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, Charisse, it has been a brutal few days for the markets. What did we see there yesterday though, and what might it all mean for Americans, even if they're not investors?
Charisse Jones:
The markets had a rough three days for a while. They were basically losing trillions of dollars. And then when this pause was announced in terms of tariffs, investors were overjoyed and stocks surged, from airlines to Walmart. And even though everybody doesn't actively invest in the market, they mean a lot. Many of us have 401 Ks, some of us still have pensions, and that money's invested in the market. And if companies are worried, if they're pulling money out, if the shares in their companies are falling, that means that they might lay off. It means that they're less inclined to hire people. So again, the markets do play a strong role in all of our lives, and so the fact that it went in the other direction, even though the volatility may still continue, was something that people took as a really good sign
Taylor Wilson:
And folks are keeping a close eye on the bond market as well. What's the latest there and what does that tell us maybe about the economy more broadly?
Charisse Jones:
It shows that there are a lot of people that are still worried. I mean, they're selling off bonds, which is basically selling off US debt and getting into cash because they're still worried about inflation possibly going up because of these tariffs, because even though we've got this reprieve that's happening, it keeps escalating. There's still ongoing negotiations. You have a lot of countries that remain very concerned about the volatility that we're showing and not sure what direction the administration is going to go in. And so the fact that folks are continuing to sell off bonds shows that people are still very skittish despite the reprieve that we were able to see that made some investors feel a lot better yesterday.
Taylor Wilson:
JPMorgan Chase CEO, Jamie Dimon, was on Fox yesterday, Charisse, where he created some news to do with the R-word talking of course, about recession. What did he say on this front?
Charisse Jones:
He was saying that there's a real concern with these tariffs that you might have. A lot of companies default on their debt. They've borrowed money and they won't be able to repay it. I mean, the R-word you have to be very careful with. I mean, there is a specific definition for that. It's two quarters in a row where you have declining economic activity. More broadly, it's when you see high unemployment, when you see consumer sentiment fall, people spending less, but clearly he is somebody that's one of our best known bankers. People pay attention to him and the fact that he made that comment definitely set off alarm bells.
Taylor Wilson:
So I guess, where do we go from here and what other indicators are we keeping an eye on as far as whether a recession might be lurking later this year?
Charisse Jones:
Well, we've got a consumer price index report that's coming out on Thursday, and that's going to basically tell us what's happening with inflation. The last report showed that inflation was at 2.8%, which was down from 3% the previous month. So it's going in the right direction. The Fed wants to see inflation at 2% or less, and that basically means that they won't continue to raise interest rates. They might even cut them, or at least they'll leave them stable. So that's one of the big reports that we're looking at right now. But otherwise, we're really just having to watch the administration and what these other countries are doing in response to what we are doing and seeing how that all plays out.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. USA TODAY, money editor, Charisse Jones, A super busy time for you, Charisse. Thanks for hopping on.
Charisse Jones:
Sure.
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Taylor Wilson:
A lawyer for a Russian-American citizen told Reuters earlier today that she had been released in a prisoner swap between Russia and the US. Ksenia Karelina was found guilty last year of treason by a Russian court for donating money to a US-based charity providing humanitarian support to Ukraine. She was serving a 12-year prison sentence and left for the US earlier this morning. According to reporting from the Wall Street Journal, the US, in exchange, freed Arthur Petrov, who was arrested in 2023 in Cyprus for allegedly exporting sensitive microelectronics.
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Tourists detained by ICE are revealing shocking detention conditions. I spoke with USA TODAY national immigration reporter, Lauren Villagran, about some of their stories. Hello, Lauren. Thanks so much for making some time on this.
Lauren Villagran:
Yeah. Thanks, Taylor.
Taylor Wilson:
Let's start with this mixed martial arts coach, Renato Subotic. What's his story? What happened here?
Lauren Villagran:
This mixed martial arts coach came to the US with a visa as he had done before, and he was detained after customs officers said that there was a "paperwork problem." In a case like this, normally somebody who is refused entry to the United States might just be put on a flight back home, but Subotic says he was taken to a chaotic federal detention center for 24 hours, so he was held in ICE custody.
Taylor Wilson:
I know you reported on this Harvard Medical School researcher, Kseniia Petrova, who has been in custody for weeks. Is that correct, Lauren?
Lauren Villagran:
Yeah, so Kseniia Petrova is apparently a very talented researcher at Harvard Medical School. She was flying back home to Boston at Logan International Airport, from France, carrying some specimens for some science they were doing. She failed to declare the specimens and again, where US Customs and Border Protection would normally confiscate some item that wasn't properly declared and sometimes issue a fine, CBP in this case, took away her J-1 work and study visa and transferred her over to ICE. She has been detained for now seven weeks.
Taylor Wilson:
Wow. And is there any sense on what's next for her story? Does she have any recourse?
Lauren Villagran:
Well, she has an attorney and numerous colleagues at Harvard fighting for her release, as well as a letter signed by 17 US Senators trying to get her out. They are requesting that she be released on parole so that she can go back to her life in Boston. But she is a Russian national, but is afraid to go back to Russia because she participated in protests against the Ukrainian war.
Taylor Wilson:
Lauren, what do experts say? The experiences of these folks tell us really about the reality for so many people stuck in this kind of ICE limbo?
Lauren Villagran:
A lot of attention is being paid to these, what I would call unusual ICE detainees, foreign travelers who normally would not find themselves in ICE detention over a minor error or immigration violation, and they're really shedding light on conditions that have long existed in ICE, Taylor., US Immigration and Customs Enforcement runs a nationwide network of immigration detention centers. They vary widely in terms of their conditions. Some are run by the government, some are run by private contractors. But these folks who are being detained, in some cases, they are highly educated, they are well-connected, and either while in detention or as soon as they get out, they're blowing the whistle, calling members of the media in one case, writing an op-ed for The Guardian newspaper and otherwise shedding light on conditions that, in some cases, for years sometimes, go unnoticed.
Taylor Wilson:
Well, just in terms of how specific this is to this moment, Lauren, I mean, how routine, I guess, are stories like this when it comes to ICE in general? You touched on this, but is there something distinct about what we've been seeing under this administration?
Lauren Villagran:
Definitely. Obviously, President Donald Trump has come in with the promise of an immigration crackdown. That's what millions of voters have asked for. On the campaign trail, he promised he was going to go after the worst of the worst criminals and the like. But what we have seen in the past weeks and months since he took office on January 20th, is that the crackdown has really swept in all sorts of people, not just criminals, but those with minor immigration violations or in the case of these folks, travelers who were just seeking entry to the country as a tourist or on a work study visa.
Taylor Wilson:
And I know in this piece you write that the Trump administration recently eliminated two key oversight offices. Can you talk through that? What are those and what might be the significance they're amid this conversation?
Lauren Villagran:
So a former ICE official I spoke with said, "You know, look, conditions can vary in ICE detention across the country. When you see an immigration crackdown, when you see a period of increased enforcement, you're going to see conditions deteriorate, in some cases, as facilities become overcrowded or contractors become overworked." That being said, this former ICE official said, "You know, historically there have been internal mechanisms to right any wrongs." So internal oversight. That's included the Office of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties in the Department of Homeland Security, as well as an office for Immigration Detention Ombudsman. And those two offices in particular have been eliminated by the Trump administration. So a couple of the key oversight functions have disappeared.
Taylor Wilson:
All right. An important piece from you and Trevor Hughes. Lauren Villagran covers the border and immigration for USA TODAY. Thank you, Lauren.
Lauren Villagran:
Thanks, Taylor.
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Taylor Wilson:
Amid recent travel advisories warning, those coming to the US along with strengthened immigration enforcement, many international travelers are starting to turn away from the country as a destination. Between January and March of this year, foreign arrivals dropped by around 4.5% from those first three months last year, according to data from the National Travel and Tourism Office. In a March year-over-year comparison, that reduction doubles to almost 10%. Those north of the border may be playing a particularly large role in the drop. Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urged his citizens to choose Canada for their travels rather than going to the US. And they are. Airline bookings from Canada to the US are plummeting and carriers are cutting flights by 3.5% between the two countries. You can read more with a link in today's show notes.
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Today marks the start of what's known as the tradition unlike any other, the Masters Golf Tournament in Georgia. For some bold predictions and more ahead of the next four days, we have a link in today's show notes, and you can stick with USA TODAY Sports.
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Spring is here, which means sneezing, itchy eyes and runny noses. If you're one of the unlucky sufferers, you might be wondering if allergy season is getting worse. Turns out you're right.
Lewis Ziska:
In regard to the amount of pollen, we're seeing increasing concentrations, particularly in the springs and again in the falls.
Taylor Wilson:
Lewis Ziska is an associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University and a co-author of a new study that looks at changes to allergy season. My colleague, Dana Taylor, sat down with Lewis to hash out why hay fever season is longer and more potent. Hear that conversation today, beginning at 4:00 PM Eastern Time, right here on this feed.
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And thanks for listening to The Excerpt. You can get the podcast wherever you get your audio, and if you're on a smart speaker, just ask for The Excerpt. I'm Taylor Wilson. I'll be back tomorrow with more of The Excerpt from USA TODAY.