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Markets Open After China Retaliates; Rick Newman is Interviewed about Tariffs; EU to Respond to Tariffs; Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) is Interviewed about China's Retaliation on Tariffs. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired April 09, 2025 - 09:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[09:00:00]

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Unless something gives over the next month, he'll likely be forced to raise prices.

ROSALES: Some people would say, well, you, as a business, should absorb that 10 percent, not pass it along to the consumer. What do you say to that?

DEVIN HUNTER, CO-OWNER, COFFEE MAN COFFEE SHOP: If we tried to absorb it, we might not be able to exist as a business.

ROSALES (voice over): It's now a mad scramble to stockpile beans at pre-tariff prices.

HUNTER: I'm making our Vietnamese cold brew. So, it's a coffee that we roast from Vietnam, and it has a really nice smokey flavor.

ROSALES (voice over): An even tariff shopping coffee nations, which means at a whopping 46 percent tariff, Vietnam doesn't make the cut.

HUNTER: Yes, that one - that one hurts a lot because Vietnamese is one of my favorite coffees. That's the one that I'm having to look at the most. We're not going to be able to contract any coffee from Vietnam. We just may not be able to do it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And we're standing by for U.S. markets to open in just 30 minutes. And China seems to know that, announcing a major escalation in this trade war just this morning. Here's a look at futures and where they stand right now. China striking back at the United States now with an 84 percent tariff on American goods.

Also, right now, rescue teams in the Dominican Republic are racing to find survivors possibly still trapped after the roof collapsed at an iconic nightclub.

And "White Lotus" fans, how are you feeling today about that season finale? One of the shows stars is our guest.

Sara is out today. I'm Kate Bolduan, with John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, we are just moments away from the

opening bell on Wall Street, and we're already getting a sense of how investors feel. And over the course of the morning it's been jittery, not quite good, as Beijing announced a new, huge retaliatory tariff on all U.S. goods, bringing the total tax on U.S. goods headed there to 84 percent. President Trump's combined 104 percent tariff on Chinese goods went into effect overnight, as did tariffs on dozens of other trading partners. This, that's a trade war.

Many of the markets around the world took a hit. There is new reaction this morning from some of the president's political allies. Not all of it good. And new reaction from the White House itself.

With us now, CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House. Marc Stewart is in Beijing.

Let's start with you, Alayna, on what the White House is now saying and doing this morning.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, look, I think when it comes to China in particular, John, one, we know that this is actually the country that the president feels the most strongly about as it relates to tariffs. And when we heard him speak this week from the Oval Office, he said that China is the worst offender.

However, that doesn't mean that this administration does not want to negotiate with them at the same time. And I'm sure Marc can talk about this better than I can. China's been making clear that they do not want to negotiate, that they believe that the United States is not being fair in the escalation of these tariffs.

However, we have heard from some of the president's top economic advisers this morning arguing that when it comes to a trade war between the United States and China, they are committed to believing that the United States will win.

Listen to what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent had to say this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: I think it's unfortunate that the Chinese actually don't want to come and negotiate because they are the worst offenders in the international trading system. They have the most imbalanced economy in the history of the modern world. And, you know, I can tell you that this escalation is a loser for them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, John, I think a key question, of course, today is, what really does a potential off ramp to this trade war with China look like, if that is even something that the White House wants? I think it's clear. And the president, in my conversations with White House officials, Trump administration officials, they are clear in this idea of wanting to reset the table as they've characterized it with tariffs and the way that global trade is done. But, at the same time, there's really not, you know, particularly when

it comes to China, if they're not going to negotiate, there's not really a clear roadmap for where to go from here, to maybe how to provide some relief on the increasing tariffs. The 104 percent tariffs from the United States, the 84 percent from China, where does that end up? Where does the end game with China? That's still a key question I think the White House is figuring out.

BERMAN: Yes, off ramps with China, off ramps with any number of a dozen other countries around the world as well. That's a big question.

But let's stay on China. Let's go to Marc Stewart there.

And, Marc, you were on the air with us this morning as China announced its retaliatory tariffs. What is the view from Beijing this morning?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, lets first talk about the timing about all of this because it is a bit curious. It was made at 7:00 in the evening here, 7:00 in the morning where you are in New York, about two and a half hours before the markets opened.

[09:05:05]

Was this deliberate? Was this coincidence? I'll put it this way, if we're talking about a trade war where the biggest weapon in all of this is money, a tariff announcement is certainly something that could move markets. And there are people on Chinese social media who are actually cheering this move by China to retaliate at the time it did before the market opened.

Again, another day of very strong, stern responses by China toward the U.S., calling the latest move by the U.S., the additional tariffs, a mistake upon a mistake, saying that it's going to damage the global trading system. It's important to note that these latest tariffs imposed by China are really going to hurt the heartland of America. They're going to hurt farmers. They're going to hurt the agriculture industry, which are so vital to the American economy.

China, despite some of the economic woes that it may have, is standing very strong, sending a message that it will be in this for the long haul. Let's hear from a government official speaking just a few hours ago from here in Beijing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIN JIAN, SPOKESPERSON, CHINESE FOREIGN MINISTRY (through translator): External shocks cannot alter the fundamental strengths of China's economy, its stability, abundant advantages, resilience and great potential.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: John, I want to talk about a point that Alayna brought up, and that the Treasury secretary brought up. When will China and the U.S. actually sit down and talk about this? At this point, Beijing is being very defiant, saying that the U.S. is

not acting in a genuine way to sit down and have such a serious conversation as this.

We heard from an analyst just a few weeks ago who really raised the question, who is going to fold first? And I can tell you from my spot here in China, China does not want to budge. In fact, it is going to continue with this theme that it does not want the U.S. to tell it what it can and cannot do. It's a theme that we've seen in TikTok and now here, John, in this trade dispute.

BERMAN: And we'll see how long they hold that position.

Marc Stewart, in Beijing. Again, markets coming off their lows a little bit, at least in the futures. We will see where it is headed over the next several minutes.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: That's exactly right.

And joining us now is senior columnist at Yahoo Finance, Rick Newman.

It's good to see you again, Rick. It's been a minute.

What does this new retaliatory tariff from China, 50 - an added 50 percent, bringing it all together to 84 percent on American goods going there. What does it mean?

RICK NEWMAN, SENIOR COLUMNIST, YAHOO FINANCE: I take it to mean that China is just going to go the distance with Trump on this one. And I think it's possible that in China they have concluded, sure, Trump can hurt us with these tariffs. But, guess what, we can endure more pain for longer than an elected U.S. president who, in theory at least, has to answer to voters.

So, Trump thinks he's gaining leverage by doing this. China thinks that they are gaining leverage by doing this. And, honestly, if you're in - if you're in Beijing right now, you're watching the U.S. stock market go down. You're watching economists now saying recession is now our base case forecast. And you're probably sitting back and saying, go ahead, Donald Trump, wreck your own economy. That's fine with us.

BOLDUAN: That's why I - to that point I was curious as to the Treasury secretary's response this morning in speaking on Fox Business when he said that China's a loser in this. And later on, he says, when it comes to the - the China tariff is, so what. I'm wondering if so what is really the conversation inside the White House about this?

NEWMAN: Tell that to American farmers. I mean they - they are - this is a nightmare to them because this is a replay of what they went through in 2018 and 2019, except its much worse. So, that China tariff means that soybeans, beef, corn, other products that American farmers send to China, I mean, this is one of their main markets. And what happened in 2018 and 2019 is those tariffs went into place and China started buying a lot of those products from Brazil, and from other countries. And then what did Trump do? Trump basically sent bailout money to farmers who said, we would rather have markets than bailouts. And it is just going to be worse this time.

So, this sort of tone of indifference that we're getting from the administration, including from Trump himself, it - it is - just shows a complete deaf ear to the plight of Americans. Trump, you know, says he's willing to endure the pain here, but what he really means is, he's willing for us to endure the pain while he tries to find a way out of this.

BOLDUAN: Something I want to make sure doesn't get lost with all of this breaking news is the president has also said that his next target is going to be pharmaceuticals. And when you look at it - he said it last night, Rick.

[09:10:02]

And when you look at it, most of the drugs Americans consume are produced at least partly outside the United States, China, India, Europe. An example that any - of any - everyone will - it will hit home for every - anyone, all - nearly all of the world's production of the active ingredient of amoxicillin is - comes from China, India or Europe. I mean the potential impact of that is - is really grabbing my attention this morning.

NEWMAN: Well, as everybody knows, pharmaceuticals are cheap. So, what the heck, we can raise the price a little bit. We import about $200 billion worth of pharmaceutical products, include a lot - including a lot of generic drugs, which are the ones that people use to get their pharmaceutical bills down.

So, yes, I mean, Trump is going to try to - I mean, as he's doing in all these other industries, try to get more U.S. production by first punishing Americans, by raising our prices as if that is somehow going to solve the problem. So, this is why economists are just pulling their hair out over this because you're - Trump is holding a gun to the head of the U.S. economy. And to go back to these other countries, I mean, just to go back to China. China does not have trade wars with any other country besides the United States. So, China has other choices.

Trump is waging this trade war with essentially every country in the world and pushing prices up for everything. So, people are going to start to see these prices and wonder what's going on. I cannot explain where Trump thinks this is going, because this is going to be quite bad for American consumers.

BOLDUAN: Yes, and - which leads to the question of, one, what's the end goal? And two, announcing one trade - one deal - one deal, one successful negotiation with one country, will that be enough to kind of ease - ease the fears? TBD. Let's - first, let's - let's get through market open right now and let's see what happens together.

It's great to see you, Rick. Thank you so much.

John. BERMAN: All right, a search for survivors after the roof of a

nightclub collapsed, killing at least 113 people. Rescuers are racing to find people who may be trapped alive in the rubble.

This morning, major changes being made to the FAA to address safety concerns after that deadly midair collision, a fistfight between air traffic controllers, and now a series of near misses.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And in just a moment, more on how Europeans are preparing to fight back. But for now, just to look at all of these European products, and I don't just mean Ferraris, pharmaceuticals, clothes, all of those things Europe exported to the United States that have suddenly just become a lot more expensive for American consumers.

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[09:17:22]

BOLDUAN: This morning, emergency services now say 113 people have died in the Dominican Republic after a roof collapsed at a busy and very popular nightclub early Tuesday. Rescue workers are racing this morning still to try to find survivors, they hope, who may still be trapped in the rubble. The confirmed deaths include two former Major League Baseball players, a well-known merengue singer who was performing on stage at the time of the collapse, and at least 300 people were inside the iconic jet set club when this happened. Authorities right now, as they're clearly in the midst of this emergency, still say it is too early to determine why that roof fell in. We continue to follow that developing story.

John.

BERMAN: All right, this morning, the breaking news, China announced 84 percent retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. Now the world is waiting to see how the European Union will respond to the U.S. Today, the EU will decide on its first retaliation measures. Remember, the EU faces 25 percent tariffs on steel and aluminum coming into the United States, 25 percent on cars, 20 percent on everything else.

Let's go to CNN's Melissa Bell in Paris with the latest on what's being considered, what we might see today.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: John, the first thing that Europeans are discussing in Brussels is that response to that first series of tariffs on steel and aluminum. But they're also beginning to think about their wider response to the so-called reciprocal tariffs that last round that they're quite say - calling horizontal now. They're saying these are - there's nothing reciprocal about these tariffs at all.

But even as they consider their response, I think the real question here in Europe as we wake up to this new world where 20 percent of everything that's made now in Europe and head to the United States has that 20 percent tariff on it, is what it means for American consumers. It isn't simply the luxury goods, the Ferraris, that suddenly have become a lot more expensive to Americans than they had been, but it is. And, of course, Europe's famous for its luxury industry. It is wine. It is champagne. The 2.5 billion euros worth of wine exported to the United States every year suddenly a lot more expensive for American consumers. Beer that is made in the European Union as well.

For the time being, John, the Europeans are looking very much at a goods based reciprocal tariff potential response, but they're also saying that what they have up their sleeve, what would be far more damaging responses that would do with services. For instance, that would do a lot of harm to the profits made by American tech giants here in the European Union, American banks inside the European Union, some of these being described as nuclear options, that they're keeping up their sleeve for the time being, but that they say they're ready to use if negotiations don't pan out.

[09:20:10]

And I think that's really the heart of the puzzlement here in Europe, why those negotiations don't seem to be making any progress. One European leader describing this as a shoot first, talk later policy that was doing tremendous damage to the global economy.

BERMAN: Well, obviously, we'll watch and wait and see. One note I do want to make, we can't even afford mugs on our show, but apparently the Paris bureau, they get Ferraris.

Melissa Bell, thank you very much.

The opening bell just minutes away on Wall Street. A lot of investors bracing. These huge, new tariffs kicked in overnight, shaking the global markets. And futures have been up and down all morning long. Where will they end up? Stay with us.

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[09:25:24]

BERMAN: All right, we're closing in on the opening bell on Wall Street just minutes away now, waiting to see how investors respond to China's brand-new 84 percent retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. It comes in response to the president's 104 percent tariffs on Chinese goods. Overnight, tariffs went into effect on dozens of other countries as well.

With me now is Senator Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin.

Senator, thanks so much for being with us.

The administration has Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent out talking to as many people - Bessent, talking to as many people as possible. He said that CEOs have been coming into Treasury telling him, the economy is very solid. He says, I think we're in pretty good shape.

What do you think about that?

SEN. TAMMY BALDWIN (D-WI): Well, he needs to listen to the manufacturers and farmers and families across Wisconsin who - many of the farmers in Wisconsin are still recovering from the trade war that Trump got us into in his first term. I know a farm family in Vernon County, Wisconsin, who said that the last trade war brought them into poverty. They feel like it's very possible that this trade war will put them out of business altogether. And I hear that from manufacturers also.

This is not a matter of, you know, Wisconsin's economy being on solid footing. This is a matter of many small businesses, farms, manufacturers being - teetering on the edge of going out of business.

BERMAN: The president says he's not done. He announced overnight that he will soon make an announcement on new tariffs on pharmaceuticals. What would the impact of that be?

BALDWIN: Look, the price of people's medications are out of reach for too many. At least in the last administration we got the government negotiating with the big pharmaceuticals to bring prices down.

You know, this president ran on bringing prices down. He said on day one families would see lower costs. That he'd be the chief at fighting inflation. We have seen just the opposite. We have seen policies put in place that are rising - raising the cost of things. And right now people are living paycheck to paycheck and sometimes running out of money before the month ends. And this policy on pharmaceuticals will only bring needed life-saving prescription drugs out of price for too many.

BERMAN: I continue to ask this question to Democrats because one of the arguments the White House makes is that they're doing this and that some 70 countries have called. The president says they're kissing his blank. They're trying to make trade deals now with the United States. And it's these new tariffs that have shaken the tree, so to speak. So, would it be good, in your mind, if the United States were able to extract concessions from South Korea or Japan or Vietnam or the EU or other trading partners? Would that be a positive development?

BALDWIN: Look, there are many ways to negotiate with other countries about trade deals. I have put forward a worker-centered trade proposal to the president that would focus on renegotiating a lot of our bilateral and multilateral trade deals with the worker front and center and our economy front and center.

That is not what this president is doing. His reckless, across the board tariffs are creating chaos, and they are raising prices for the families that I represent. And we have got to fight back.

I am not opposed to tariffs as a tool in our toolbox, but I think they should be used in a very targeted way to go after trade cheats. But the idea that we are putting across the board tariffs, not just on economic adversaries, but also on our economic allies, our biggest trading partners, Canada and Mexico, is foolhardy. And - and we have got to persuade this president to back down. We've also got to make sure that Congress can serve as an effective check and balance, which right now it is not. BERMAN: Do you think it's - what's happening with China is different

than what's happening to the rest of the world? It sounds like what you're saying, you know, we do have economic adversaries. Is China one of them?

[09:30:00]

And in a vacuum, are you more supportive of the actions against China?

BALDWIN: So, I believe that China cheats.