Four Key Facts About Trump’s New Tariffs, and a Town Hall Showdown

0:00This podcast is supported by On Investing, an original podcast from Charles Schwab. Each week, hosts Liz Ann Saunders, Schwab's Chief Investment Strategist, and Colin Martin, Head of Fixed Income Research and Strategy for the Schwab Center for Financial Research, along with our guests. Analyze economic developments and bring context to conversations around stocks, fixed income, the economy, and more. Download the latest episode and subscribe at schwab.com slash oninvesting or wherever you get your podcasts. From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, August 7th.

0:37Here's what we're covering.

0:43At midnight last night, after months of negotiations, threats, stock market whiplash and shifting deadlines, President Trump's biggest new set of tariffs yet snapped into place on goods imported from more than 90 countries. So here are four key things to know. First, the scale. Many of the tariffs are not as staggering as the ones Trump initially announced. A lot of countries talk their way down to somewhere into the 15 to 20 percent range. But they're still way higher than when Trump took office. According to the budget lab at Yale, the average tariff rate hasn't been this high in almost 100 years.

1:22Second, the tariffs have already started to take a toll on the U.S. economy. The most dire predictions, like a full-blown recession, haven't played out. Experts say that's partly because Trump has backed down from his most dramatic threats. But prices have started to climb as companies shift some of the tariff-related costs onto customers. The tariffs could end up costing the average American household an extra$2 ,400 per year, according again to the Budget Lab. The third thing to know. The tariffs are making the U.S. government money. And a lot of it. Even before this latest round of surcharges kicked in last night, revenue from taxes on imported goods grew dramatically this year, generating$152 billion through July.

2:12That's roughly double the amount from the same period last year. Experts say the federal government could start to rely on this new source of income, And it could get to the point that future politicians of either party may be reluctant to roll them back. And number four, Trump is not done yet. We've made a lot of progress. And as you know, we put a 50 percent tariff on India. The president's shown he's willing to jack up tariffs more as punishment. Yesterday, he doubled the rate on goods from India because the countries refused to stop buying Russian oil. And the president's also targeting not just countries, but whole industries as he tries to boost U.S.

2:51manufacturing. He's now taking aim at semiconductors, the chips that are essential to AI, but also to basically anything with an on-off switch, threatening a 100 percent tariff on chips made overseas. But if you've made a commitment to build or if you're in the process of building, as many are, there is no tariff. OK. The only way to avoid those new surcharges, he said, is for tech companies to invest in U.S. production. Apple just took Trump up on that, announcing a$100 billion investment in American manufacturing. The tech giant made similar, smaller pledges during the Biden administration and Trump's first term, though the company has yet to follow through on some of them.

3:41Yesterday, President Trump surprised world leaders on a phone call when he announced that he plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin as soon as next week, in what would be the first in-person meeting between a U.S. and Russian president in more than four years. Trump said he plans to then follow up the one-on-one with a meeting that would include both Putin and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The White House said, quote, President Trump wants this brutal war to end. If the meeting happens, it could be seen as something of a victory for Russia. Since it invaded Ukraine, NATO allies, including the U.S., have largely isolated Moscow and refused to deal with Putin directly.

4:22Trump, though, has had a number of phone calls with him since taking office, and the White House said Russia requested these in-person talks. Trump continues to present himself as a dealmaker who can single-handedly bring an end to the bloody years-long conflict. While campaigning, he promised to end the war in 24 hours. And over the last few months, he's made several ultimatums to try and force a deal, though the fighting has continued.

4:55I want the opportunity to tell you and talk to you about health care in the bill we just passed. Around the country, members of Congress are on a six-week recess, many of them going back to their districts for the first time since the passage of President Trump's sweeping domestic policy bill. And quite frankly, from where I sit, there's been a lot of misinformation out there about the bill. Polls show that the bill, which makes cuts to Medicaid, food benefits and other programs, is widely unpopular. And the Republicans who pushed it are now having to try and sell it to voters back home. In Lincoln, Nebraska this week, Republican Representative Mike Flood took the stage in front of a crowd of more than 700 people, many of whom were angry about the bill.

5:40We didn't make it two minutes in before it was heckling and yelling and shouting, and it continued for an hour and a half. Times congressional correspondent Annie Carney was at the event.

5:53People were on their feet chanting tax the rich. It was one of the most raucous political events I've ever witnessed. You're going to agree with me when I'm done. Republicans always like to say paid protesters are showing up and flooding them with people who will have a negative reaction. But the people I spoke to seem to just be people who live in Lincoln, Nebraska and heard about it through local media. Annie says that what happened in Lincoln underscores why fewer and fewer Republican lawmakers are holding public in-person events at all. Earlier this year, GOP leadership told them to stop having the events because of how heated they were getting.

6:33Some lawmakers have turned instead to online sessions or conference calls where they can screen questions and mute participants.

6:50In Pakistan, there's been a surge of anger over how authorities have responded to a brutal so-called honor killing that was caught on camera. Back in June, a 35-year-old married mother of five was accused of having an affair with another man, and a tribal leader ordered both of them to be killed. They were shot at close range as a crowd of men looked on, some of them filming the double execution on their phones. For more than six weeks, officials did nothing until video of the killing, which captured the woman's defiant last words, went viral. You can shoot me, she said, but nothing more than that.

7:27The shocking video and lack of action from authorities set off protests and widespread condemnation from politicians. Eventually, police opened an investigation, though the man who fired the shots is still at large. Human rights advocates say the case underscores how efforts to prevent gender-based violence in Pakistan are falling short. They say that modern laws designed to protect women and girls are often ignored in favor of centuries-old tribal codes, and hundreds of women are reported killed each year for things like refusing forced marriages or trying to get a divorce. Experts say that number of honor killings is likely an undercount.

8:08The head of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan told The Times, quote,

8:22And finally, the Times has been covering the meteoric rise and dramatic downturn of the company behind Ozempik, Novo Nordisk. When Ozempic came on the market back in 2017, it launched Novo Nordisk from being a relatively obscure Danish company to an absolute juggernaut. Reports are suggesting that the company may even become Europe's most valuable. Over$560 billion. More than McDonald's and Netflix together. Can you imagine how big that is? Doctors called the drug, which can be used for drastic weight loss, as well as reducing the risk of heart disease and other chronic illnesses, a game changer, and the company started racking up billions in sales.

9:06At one point, Novo Nordisk's market value exceeded the size of the entire Danish economy. But that did not last. They couldn't make enough of the drug fast enough to keep up with soaring demand, particularly in the U.S. So even though they'd patented their big breakthrough, American regulators stepped in to let competitors make copycat versions to deal with the shortage. That started to erode the company's profits, and its stock value took a steep dive. Granted, it is still bringing in huge, huge amounts of money, but yesterday it reported new sales data that showed its slowest growth in years.

9:43And market experts say Novo Nordisk is at risk of getting left behind in the industry it supercharged. Even if the company's dominance is ending, though, the craze around weight loss drugs is not. By one estimate, one in eight adults in the U.S. has taken Ozempic or a medication like it. And researchers believe if developments that are on the horizon, like taking it as a pill instead of an injection, come through, that number could go up dramatically. Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily. How President Trump has revived one of his most controversial immigration policies from his first term, separating children from their parents.

10:26You can listen to that in the New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow.