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China Fires Back, Slaps 34 Percent Tariffs on U.S. Imports in Retaliation; Interview with Rep. Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ): China's Tariffs, Market Futures Down, Trump Fires Several NSC Officials; American Farm Bureau: Tariffs Will Take Toll on Rural U.S. Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired April 04, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, the breaking news this morning, U.S. stock futures turning sharply downward and they keep getting worse, I have to say. This on the heels of the news released just a short time ago that China is imposing 34 percent tariffs on all imports from the United States starting on April 10th. This, of course, in response to President Trump's new tariffs.

This is retaliation. This is a trade war. Let's get right to CNN's Marc Stewart, who is in Beijing with all the news on this. Marc, you actually broke this the moment it happened. What can you tell us about it?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: John, much anticipated. And as you said, this is a trade war. This is a very big hit from China.

Two points I want to make. Number one, even though these tariffs are very broad, impacting all imports, it will really hurt American farmers and the U.S. agriculture industry the hardest. China imports a lot of soybeans of all products from the United States. It's been a top customer. With these additional tariffs, the price will skyrocket. It will force China's farmers as well as food producers to go somewhere else to buy soybeans, therefore hurting the United States.

In addition, China has also put some restrictions on rare minerals that are used to make everyday household products, also electronics. That could impact the American effort to beef up more domestic manufacturing and production.

The other point to make, the fact this is happening on a Friday night at the start of a very important holiday weekend says a lot. Beijing certainly could have waited until Monday, but this is making a very big statement, especially within China, to the domestic population.

It's also coming at a time when China is really trying to establish itself as a stable, rational force in the world. In fact, there was a Chinese official just recently in Europe, meeting with officials in Hungary, releasing a statement saying that China would be willing to have some kind of relationship with the United States to fight against protectionism, to fight against bullying. Again, John, the fact this is happening on a Friday night really underscores the fact that China is serious about this. Whether or not this leads to a discussion between Xi Jinping and President Trump at the negotiating table remains to be seen, but this shows just how high the stakes are in this back and forth between these economic superpowers.

BERMAN: Yes, it shows how serious China is and what we see in futures shows how little investors like it. A bad day yesterday, getting even worse today. Marc Stewart in Beijing, thank you so much for that update -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, joining me now, Democratic Congressman Josh Gottheimer, a member of the House Intelligence Committee and he's running for governor in New Jersey. He's also the ranking member of the National Security Agency and Cyber Subcommittee, which oversees the NSA. We will get to your expertise there in one second.

[07:35:00]

I do want to ask you about this breaking news. The trade war is officially on. China is hitting back, saying it is imposing a 34 percent tariff to match the U.S. tariffs that Donald Trump imposed. What do you say to Americans now that we are officially in this big trade war?

REP. JOSH GOTTHEIMER (D-NJ): As you point out, the trade war has begun and it will have a huge and direct impact on American families, right? This is not one of these things that is a threat. Now it's real.

And you're talking about a $3,800 a year hit on families from these across-the-board tariffs. And that's just not on what they're going to pay for everything from cheese to coffee to cars to clothing. But it's already affecting, as we saw with the markets, their savings, right, their retirement accounts. A huge hit on those.

So at a time when we're trying to get costs down, it's what I focus on every day, like getting costs and taxes lower. This is actually going to -- and President Trump, who ran on actually making life more affordable -- this is going to do just the opposite. Right. It's going to make their lives more expensive.

And it's why a few of us are going to put up a discharge petition next week to try to get rid of the Canadian tariffs that are in place, and also to demand from President Trump, what are you doing? What's this chaos all about? You got to actually have a strategy, not just go out there and intentionally cause a trade war.

SIDNER: I want to talk to you about what President Trump and Vice President Vance has said. We have just had, as you just mentioned, one of the worst days for stock markets since March of 2020, which was, of course, the month the entire country began shutting down because of COVID-19. The tariffs show that the Dow closed down about 4 percent, the Nasdaq 6 percent.

But the president and vice president say, don't worry, it's all going to be OK. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's going very well. It was an operation. I like when a patient gets operated on. The markets are going to boom. The stock is going to boom. The country is going to boom.

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: We're going to have a booming stock market for a long time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Do you think that President Trump and Vice President Vance are right that in the long run this will bring back jobs and manufacturing to the U.S., but it will hurt just for a bit?

GOTTHEIMER: I don't know. All you have to do is look at the economists who were, you know, the Fed chair called this tariff inflation, everyone from Goldman Sachs, Moody's calling it a recession, JPMorgan Chase saying it's going to cause a recession, you know. And there's already been layoffs announced in the United States because of these tariffs.

So I don't know what kind of strategy it is to intentionally cause a recession, cause layoffs here at home and hurt families directly with this new tax. So I don't know if long term -- but the economists I talk to say there's no long term light on this situation. Right now, there's a lot of darkness for a lot of Americans and we're seeing it literally in real time.

I'm just concerned about people being able to pay their bills and be able to afford life. And this is going to be a huge tax on our hardworking families at a time when we've got to try to make do everything we can to make life more affordable for them. And that's, of course, what I've been focused on for years and continue to be focused on.

How do we get costs down, not intentionally ruin their savings and their retirement accounts and cause price hikes across our country?

SIDNER: All right, I want to get to national security because this is a really important story happening as well. The Trump administration has fired the director and deputy director of the National Security Agency, the United States Powerful Cyber Intelligence Bureau, after meeting with far right activist Laura Loomer, who claims 9-11 is an inside job, has made violent, racist, sexist comments against Kamala Harris, has made anti-immigration and anti-Islam comments and goes after any Republican who she thinks is not MAGA enough.

What do you think is happening here? Why do you think the president fired these two people?

GOTTHEIMER: We have no idea. I mean, except for what you just said that Laura Loomer told them to. And this is insane. Right. You have some sort of extreme right MAGA person deciding to tell the president that he should fire his national security staff and the head of the national security agency. And General Haugh is a great American who's served our country with great distinction for more than nearly 35 years, I believe, and wears two hats, right, the head of Cyber Command and the head of the NSA.

This is not a political job. He's never been in a political position. This is someone who's helping protect our country from threats around the world, especially now it's critically important with what we're facing in the Middle East and obviously against our key adversary, China, Iran, Russia, North Korea.

You're talking about a moment where you would not want to destabilize the National Security Agency. And this is exactly what the president has done without any explanation to any of us except to listen to Laura Loomer. And you know, this is just more, again, just pure chaos instead of common sense.

[07:40:04]

And we know he calls these a day of liberation on the tariffs. To me, it's just a day of chaos and cost increases. And now he does this.

So I don't know what the explanation is. We haven't gotten any. But I'll tell you, we've got a lot of questions that we want answers to, to help protect our country.

SIDNER: I know you'll be asking them and we will be watching. Congressman Josh Gottheimer thank you so much, I really appreciate it -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: So Karen Read, the woman now facing a retrial over the murder of her police officer boyfriend, is now asking the Supreme Court to step in. In a new appeal, Read's legal team wants the high court to postpone her retrial in order to review whether double jeopardy is at play.

CNN's Jean Casarez has been following all of this and she's joining us now. This is a turn. What is going on here?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a big deal, right? They have gone to the U.S. Supreme Court in the middle of jury selection. And they've almost got a jury.

But here is what they are alleging. After the mistrial was declared in July, on July 1st, they say that four jurors came to them and they said, look, when we were deliberating, we had found beyond a reasonable doubt that she was not guilty of counts one, which would be second degree murder, and count three, leaving the scene of an accident causing death. We were still deliberating on manslaughter and actually one juror said in a note that it was nine to three guilty for manslaughter.

So the defense heard this and they realized the mistrial had been declared. And now you have a situation of double jeopardy that she shouldn't be tried again for counts one and three.

BOLDUAN: For those counts, yes.

CASAREZ: And so they have fought this in the state court at the trial level. They went to the highest appellate court in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Both said no. We are not going to dismiss this because the jury's deliberations are sacred. And they did not write in their notes. And we want to show you, here is the third note during deliberations of what the jurors said. Listen to this closely.

Our perspectives on the evidence are starkly divided. Some members of the jury firmly believe that the evidence surpasses the burden of proof establishing the elements of the charges beyond a reasonable doubt.

Conversely, others find the evidence fails to meet the standard and does not sufficiently establish the necessary elements of the charges. Plural.

So you have an inconsistency right there.

Well, they went on to the federal court several weeks ago and one of the things that they have written -- I think we have it to show -- the defense is saying that the judge never inquired of the jury if they had reached a decision on any of the counts. However, the courts are saying that the judge should not inquire because then she's getting into the deliberation room herself. They wrote the notes on their own and those notes show they have not had unanimity.

So now, after the first district court, federal court denied dismissal, they have gone now to the Supreme Court of the U.S. So the question is, is the U.S. Supreme Court going to accept it and what's going to happen to the trial?

BOLDUAN: All of these things. I mean, what are you hearing? Should people expect the Supreme Court to step in?

CASAREZ: It's a novel issue. It is something that we've never heard of before. On the other hand, Supreme Court doesn't like to open a floodgate and if you open a floodgate that says that a juror can, after the trial, say, oh, by the way, I voted her and we all did, not guilty on, that creates possibly havoc.

BOLDUAN: Fascinating. And also fascinating in a legal sense, but this is, you know, obviously so serious as this retrial is really already beginning.

CASAREZ: Because her life is at stake. This is a life crime. Second degree murder.

BOLDUAN: And they're in the midst of jury selection. I mean, let's see what happens.

Thank you, Jean, for laying it out for us. We really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: All right, a preview of what could be the first round of the NBA Playoffs, a battle over legacies. Let's get right to CNN's sports anchor Andy Scholes. This is a good one, yes.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: You know, John, I can't wait for the NBA Playoffs, especially if we get Lakers and Warriors in that first round. And right now, that would be the 4-5 matchup in the west.

Two teams squaring off in L.A. last night and Steph Curry, he's coming off that 52-point performance on Tuesday. He had it all going again in this one. Look at the spin he puts on that ball for the and one. Incredible stuff there.

Then in the third, Steph putting Luka on skates. He finished the game with a game-high 37 points and with a little over two minutes to go, pretty much put it away with another three.

Warriors would win 123-116. Now only a game behind the Lakers for that fourth seed with six to go in the regular season.

Ja Morant, meanwhile, was poorly warned by the NBA to stop mimicking shooting a gun as a celebration on the court. Well, after making this three against the Heat in the first quarter last night, Ja, he did that celebration again. Now, he's been suspended twice previously by the NBA for brandishing a firearm on social media.

[07:45:00]

Now, this game was tied in the closing seconds and Ja came through with a game-winner at the buzzer right there. Grizzlies would win 110- 108, snapping the Heat's six-game win streak.

You've got a huge weekend for college basketball. Tonight, the women's Final Four tips off Texas in defending champs South Carolina. Get things started 7:00 Eastern, that one followed by Paige Bueckers and UConn taking on the UCLA Bruins. Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma looking to win his 12th national title, but it would be his first since 2016.

And finally last night, we had the men's NIT final. UC Irvine down one to Chattanooga, 2.4 seconds left. They get a perfect full-court pass, then find a wide-open Jerrion Dixon down low, but he missed the two- footer. Just heartbreak for the Anteaters. Chattanooga claims their first NIT title, winning that one 85-84.

Tell you what John, I really feel for him right there, missing that shot. That's going to be tough to get over.

BERMAN: Oh, that was the worst thing I've seen this morning. And the stock markets are tanking, and that was still the worst thing I've seen this morning. Oh, Andy Scholes. Thank you very much.

SIDNER: Wait, don't go away Andy, because why am I showing off this Mets jersey?

BERMAN: We all want to know that.

SIDNER: Why am I? Because the colors are Gator colors. Hello, and guess what, I have some breaking news. Sara Sidner is going to the game. The Final Four, Florida vs. Ole Miss on 9:00 pm. I will be in San Antonio. These things just happen.

SCHOLES: Hey, how about a Florida-Houston championship game of all four?

SIDNER: Cool, as long as we win. Just putting this out here. And this is Carter. This was bought for a little boy when he was born, because his daddy is a huge Mets fan. That would be Monaco. Anyway, I've got a lot of stories. We'll talk about it later. We've got other things to talk about that are probably more important. Sorry. Thank you boys.

All right, some of those expected to be hardest hit by the tariffs, farmers. How are they responding this morning to tariffs? We'll have more on that.

And Bruce Springsteen, 80 never-before-heard songs, enough material for seven brand new albums. We will be listening. A preview of that coming up.

[07:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So we're continuing to follow the breaking news this morning. China has announced a 34 percent reciprocal tariff this morning, slapping that on all U.S. goods. This move will have a sweeping and direct impact on many American businesses, including farmers.

One example is that China is the top export market in the world for American soybeans. The American Farm Bureau has been warning for weeks now that new tariffs are going to take a massive toll on rural America. I'm going to play for you what the Agriculture Secretary said yesterday about what she is hearing from farmers and ranchers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE ROLLINS, U.S. AGRICULTURE SECRETARY: They understand that there may be a short time of uncertainty, but for the long haul, as we restructure the American economy and the government, American economy and our private sector, with the government playing a role in that, President Trump's vision of using tariffs. At the end of the day, this president committed to putting Americans first, and as part of that are our farmers and our ranchers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Joining me right now is Josh Gackle. He's the chairman of the American Soybean Association, also a farmer producing soybeans, corn, wheat, and barley in North Dakota. Josh, thank you for taking some time for us this morning.

China is U.S. soy's number one export market. So what does a 34 percent tariff on your soybeans going to China, what does it mean? I mean, what does this do to your ability to sell in China now? JOSH GACKLE, CHAIRMAN, AMERICAN SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION: Well, it certainly creates additional challenges for us as farmers. And coming from North Dakota, it's specifically important here. A vast majority, 60 to 70 percent of the soybeans that we grow in any given year are destined for that Chinese market.

So it creates added uncertainty, additional risk in a time where the farm economy in general is struggling. Commodity prices are down over the past six months by 30 to 50 percent. The balance sheet on our farms is struggling right now as well due to that. Input prices are higher.

So it's additional risk, and China has been a reliable partner and a reliable market for decades. And just hoping that, you know, we can work through this quickly and that the Trump administration recognizes that this agriculture exports, not just to China, but, you know, to many of our other international partners, are something that is important to rural America.

BOLDUAN: 100 percent. How does it feel right now? I mean, as all of this is being announced and is setting in, how does this feel, everything you just laid out with this uncertainty? And it's already a tough time for farmers across the country.

GACKLE: Well, it's something that, you know, through the campaign, and we also have the experience of the first Trump administration and the tariffs and the retaliatory tariffs from China back in 2018 and 19. And we know what that did to prices. You know, there's this short term impact of loss in the market price, but there's also long term considerations.

[07:55:00]

And when you get into a trade situation like this, China and other countries, they are going to start to look to other suppliers. One of our biggest competitor when it comes to soybeans and corn as well is South America, specifically Brazil.

So China and other countries are going to start looking to build more long term relationships with those suppliers when you get into a trade situation like this. So it feels -- I guess the best way to say is it feels really risky. I mean, I know what the administration is saying, there's going to be an adjustment period.

I heard the comments from Secretary Rollins there that, you know, expecting an adjustment period as well. But times are difficult here. And it's not just on my farm. This affects our communities, our local businesses, our small businesses all across rural America that rely on a healthy and successful farm economy.

BOLDUAN: You mentioned the first Trump term. During that back and forth with China, the Trump administration offered help to farmers, I think almost $30 billion in assistance to try to ease that pain.

Do you need that? Do you have any -- have you heard that that is coming? Do you think farmers will need that this time? GACKLE: Well, I've certainly seen, you know, reports in the press and, you know, comments from the administration that they are looking at ways, depending on how this plays out over the next few months, that the administration is looking at ways to provide some of that assistance again to farmers.

I'll start by saying we as farmers and our commodity organizations, whether American Soybean Association, corn growers, wheat, sorghum, specialty crop growers, we don't -- our preference is to have open, fair and free markets where we can sell our products to customers who value what we are growing. We do not want to rely on government payments, you know, and the budget situation in Washington and coming up with that assistance again in round two here, I think would be difficult.

So, you know, we're not hoping for that. We're not relying on it. We would rather have access to the markets that we've been selling to for years.

BOLDUAN: Josh, real quick, I think soybean planting season is like right up -- we are right on that right now. I feel like it happens in April or May. What are you doing with that?

GACKLE: So I'm up here in the northern tier, Kate, a little bit up in North Dakota, we're maybe about a month away, three to four weeks from planting soybeans here. Other places in the country, we get further south. I talked to my friends, you know, in the southern part of the country that have started planting their soybean and corn crops.

So there is, yes, again, it's just an uncertain time. And as we put that crop in the ground and wondering what it might -- where that value is, as we try to sell that product, you know, when we get through the summer and into harvest.

Looking at the markets this morning or over the past couple of days, just soybeans specifically have lost about 40 cents over the past couple of days. And, you know, there's all kinds of things that go into that. But I think part of it is this trade and tariff situation. So that loss in value, that loss in product is certainly going to affect our bottom line if we can't get it addressed soon.

BOLDUAN: Well, Josh, really appreciate your time, appreciate what you do. And we all depend on you. So thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right, just moments ago, a reminder of what Michael Kinsley once said, roughly a gaffe is when a politician actually tells the truth. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said out loud that markets are crashing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: The markets will adjust. Businesses around the world, including in trade and global trade, they just need to know what the rules are. Once they know what the rules are, they will adjust to those rules. So I don't think it's fair to say economies are crashing. Markets are crashing because markets are based on the stock value of companies who today are embedded in modes of production that are bad for the United States.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So he was making a case -- I do wonder if he wants those words back. He's in Brussels for meetings with NATO leaders.

That is where our chief national security correspondent Alex Marquardt is. A complicated few days for the secretary of state, Alex.

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It really was, John. And although there were no official meetings here at NATO about tariffs, of course, it certainly did overshadow a lot of the conversations. And so Rubio, of course, having to respond behind closed doors to NATO officials about these tariffs, but also to reporters, he pushed back on the notion that economies around the world are crashing.

But as you noted, he did acknowledge that the markets are crashing. He seemed rather confident that they will readjust, that markets and businesses will readjust once they learn the new rules of the road. And he said firmly we have to reset the global order of trade.

He also made some news on another subject, John. He acknowledged that he met with that top Kremlin aide, that Putin adviser, Kirill Dmitriev, who has been in Washington this week. We knew that Dmitriev had been meeting with the envoy, Steve Witkoff. Rubio now admitting that he ...