Saudi Oil Tankers Attacked, Trump's New Tariffs, Wisconsin Police Shooting

0:02Ayesha Rascoe:Oil hit$100 a barrel after Iran-backed rebels struck two Saudi tankers in the Red Sea. Fears of further escalation is causing foreign diplomats to leave their posts in Iran. Amir Martinez, that is Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News.

0:20President Trump's global tariff expired last night, and a new one impacting the U.S.'s biggest trading partner took its place. The Supreme Court ruled some of his past tariffs illegal. Will this one survive legal scrutiny?

0:32Ayesha Rascoe:And people in Madison, Wisconsin gathered to remember Corey Ruiz. Police shot and killed him Wednesday during an attempted arrest. Four officers are on leave and none of them wore body cameras. What more do we know about what happened that day? Stay with us. We'll give you news you need to start your day.

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1:54Ayesha Rascoe:We're almost two weeks into renewed fighting in the Middle East that many hope would start to wind down, but it keeps escalating. Yeah, there have been new U.S. strikes on Iran, and Iran continues to target American bases in the Gulf and Jordan. The impact is being felt in the global energy markets. NPR's Hadil al-Shelchi has been following all this from Istanbul, and she's with us now. Good morning, Hadil. Good morning. So let's start with oil prices. They jumped significantly yesterday. That's right. So Brent crude oil, which is the international standard, jumped over 6 % to$100 a barrel. That's the highest it's been since May.

2:28It came after the Iran-backed Yemeni Houthis attack two Saudi oil tankers trying to cross the Red Sea. Now, the Houthis got involved in the war earlier this week and said it was in retaliation for a siege the Saudi Arabia placed on Yemen and for Saudi attacks on the capital's international airport. The rebel group has threatened to blockade the Bab al-Mandeb Strait, which connects the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, to Saudi vessels. Besides the Strait of Hormuz, Bab al-Mandeb is another choke point that companies use to transport oil and fuel. And of course, it's regular people who feel the effect of this jump in oil prices.

3:03Things like school supplies, fresh food are more expensive, and shipping companies like UPS have imposed fuel surcharges. Where is the fighting right now? So the U.S. said last night that it completed a 13th round of strikes in Iran. They attacked military command centers, drone storage facilities, coastal surveillance sites, they said. U.S. Central Command also said that it redirected 12 commercial vessels to prevent ships from entering or leaving Iranian ports. Iranian state media said that there were explosions in the southwest of the country. That's where some of the most sensitive military and maritime areas are.

3:39Iran retaliated with its own attacks on U.S. bases. There were sirens heard in Bahrain and Kuwait. And then we also know that Kurdish media close to the regional government posted video from Erbil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq of a drone in flames after being shot down. Erbil's international airport said it closed briefly, but now it's reopened to traffic. And the fighting has led to some foreign missions to reduce their diplomatic footprints in Iran. The British embassy, for example, says it's continuing to operate remotely. and they've told British citizens who are still in Iran to leave.

4:12Ayesha Rascoe:So meanwhile, the U.S. and Saudi Arabia signed an agreement that would allow U.S. companies to build and run nuclear power plants on Saudi soil. Almost immediately, though, there was this new wrinkle. So tell us about the deal and then tell us what happened. So yesterday, just hours after the deal was signed, President Trump posted on True Social that Saudi Arabia would first need to join the Abraham Accords. Now, those are a series of U.S.-brokered agreements. They were first signed in 2020 where Arab countries have to normalize diplomatic or agree to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel.

4:44But in the agreement, there is no mention of the Abraham Accords. And Saudi Arabia has refused normalization in the past. And so far, we haven't heard from the Saudis officially yet. I'll remind you that the agreement that they signed allows Saudi Arabia to build nuclear power plants using U.S. technology. But the agreement doesn't include what's known as the gold standard. There are provisions that would prohibit Saudi Arabia from enriching uranium and reprocessing nuclear fuel. And it also doesn't require them to adopt these terms that would lead to more international inspections. That is NPR's Hadil al-Shelchi in Istanbul.

5:19Ayesha Rascoe:Hadil, thank you. You're very welcome.

5:30Ayesha Rascoe:Overnight, two big things happened to U.S. tariffs. One major import tax expired. President Trump had put that in place after the Supreme Court struck down other tariffs earlier this year. The minute that major tariff expired, it was essentially replaced with a new set covering dozens of countries. NPR White House correspondent Danielle Kurtzleben is covering this. Good morning, Danielle. Good morning. So break down these tariffs for us. Sure. So yesterday, the administration announced that it is imposing tariffs of 10 to 12.5 percent on 59 countries, plus the European Union. The administration said it's because those economies are importing goods made with forced labor.

6:08And these are blanket tariffs in a sense. The U.S. trade representative has said this covers countries responsible for more than 99 percent of U.S. imports. Now, all that said, some big categories like energy and a lot of foods are going to be exempted. These new tariffs, they started at midnight at the exact same time that a 10 percent global tariff expired.

6:29Ayesha Rascoe:So is the administration saying that's just a coincidence that they happen to be replacing one tariff for another with a completely different legal justification? No. A senior administration official, not authorized to speak on the record, told reporters that, yes, the administration has long cared about forced labor, but they timed it this way to keep things simple for businesses. I will add, though, that not everyone sees this as a good faith effort at improving labor practices. Here was Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden at a hearing this week. Trump's next trade scheme is ordering USTR to reconstruct his illegal global tariffs under the guise of addressing forced labor.

7:07And really, it's noteworthy that here the administration is saying that no other country, not even its biggest trading partners, is doing enough to fight forced labor.

7:17Ayesha Rascoe:You know, one of the biggest criticisms of President Trump's tariffs before that Supreme Court ruling was that there was so much uncertainty that he could come up with new tariffs at his whim. So is there more certainty now? Somewhat. For many tariffs, the administration is proposing the process is slower. These new tariffs are the result of a months long investigation into whether other countries subject the U.S. to unfair competition. That said, he still can make some quick decisions. This week, he signed proclamations imposing new 50 % tariffs on some Canadian goods to start just under a month from now.

7:53And that means, by the way, that it's still possible in that time that the two countries will negotiate all or some of those tariffs away. Now, altogether, there's just still a lot of complexity here with all these new tariffs happening under a variety of different laws. And they're on top of existing tariffs on things like aluminum and lumber and semiconductors and on individual countries like Brazil. One other thing is that still more tariffs could be coming. There's another investigation into more than a dozen countries in the EU. The administration says they may be manufacturing unfairly, for example, by overproducing.

8:30Ayesha Rascoe:So now I have to bring the politics into it because in the U.S., you know, midterm elections are not that far away. Do these tariffs make sense politically? Well, poll after poll shows that Americans don't like the tariffs and that their approval of the president on the economy has fallen. But whether or not Americans like them, we know the president likes tariffs. He sees them as a way to strong arm other countries during trade negotiations. And his administration maintains that tariffs will have long-term economic benefits. Now, plenty of economists would dispute that. But all in all, these are a gamble.

9:03They're asking voters to weigh a policy they might not like against what might happen in the future.

9:08Ayesha Rascoe:That is NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben. Danielle, thank you. Thank you.

9:20Ayesha Rascoe:Crowds gathered in Madison, Wisconsin last night in memory of Corey Ruiz. Police shot and killed him on Wednesday after a struggle as they tried to arrest him. The four officers involved have been placed on administrative leave. Wisconsin Public Radio's Sarah Lear is here to tell us more. Good morning, Sarah. Good morning. First, what do we know about how all of this unfolded? Here's what Madison police say happened. They responded to a report about a man checking car doors. That man was Corey Ruiz. He fled from police on a bike. Eventually, they caught up to him and there was a struggle. They say Ruiz pulled out a knife during the scuffle.

9:53The police used a taser on him. They say it didn't work. And they say at some point an officer was injured by the knife. That was the same officer who shot and killed Ruiz. Bystander video appears to show Ruiz on the ground. At the time, this officer fired what sounded like three shots. Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway said in a press conference yesterday that the city has to do better. I want to be clear. It does not matter who you are or what your past is. You should not lose your life as a result of an encounter with law enforcement. That should not happen. She's probably alluding to the fact that court records show Corey Ruiz has a long history of criminal convictions, including resisting arrest and one involving injury to police.

10:37The mayor says she has a lot of questions about the shooting, including what police did or did not do to deescalate the situation. Emotions are running high in Madison. On Thursday afternoon, the city's press conference was interrupted by protesters who shouted and took over the mic for an extended period of time before city officials eventually resumed talking.

10:57Ayesha Rascoe:And I know that you've been reporting on this. So what else have you learned about Corey Ruiz? He was 38 years old. He was a father. His young daughter was at the vigil last night, along with other loved ones who wore T-shirts with his face on it. One of the people I spoke to there was Tony Smith, who knew Ruiz since middle school. He says they bonded over rap and basketball. When you get to know him, he's like real open and talkative. But at first, he's pretty shy. And he's a good guy. He was always, no matter what, he always made time for his kid, his daughter. That's a fact. That's a fact. No matter what he was going through.

11:32Worth noting, there have been two other fatal shootings by police in the same Madison neighborhood since 2012. So the community is pretty raw.

11:40Ayesha Rascoe:And tell us more about how this investigation is proceeding. The Wisconsin Division of Criminal Investigation is looking into the shooting. Authorities have not released the name of the officer who killed Ruiz. One thing to note, the police officers were not wearing body cameras. That's because Madison Police don't have them department-wide. There is some momentum building in City Hall to change that, though. Beyond that, Madison Police do have dashboard cameras, and there are multiple bystander videos circulating about the incident. That is Sarah Lear with Wisconsin Public Radio joining us after a long couple of days of reporting.

12:15Ayesha Rascoe:Sarah, thanks so much for joining us. Thank you.

12:21Ayesha Rascoe:And that's up first for Friday, July 24th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Martinez. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Tina Crya, Rebecca Metzler, Gigi Dubon, Mohamed El-Bardisi, and Taylor Haney. It was produced by Ziad Butch and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from Nisha Hainas. Our technical director is Stacey Abbott. And our executive producer is Jay Shaler. Join us again on Monday.

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