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CNN International: U.S. Markets Plunge Again; Trump Extends TikTok Sale Deadline; Yoon Suk Yeol Removed From Office; China Retaliates With 34 Percent Tariffs; Farmers Brace For Tariff Impact; Tariffs On Coffee Imports To Increase. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired April 04, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS HOST: A warm welcome to you joining us wherever you are in this world of ours. I'm Richard Quest in New York.

As we have an hour together, the Trump tariff pullout continues. The Dow is off more than 2,200 points. The S&P loses 10 percent into your days, and the NASDAQs are bear market. The moves follow China's retaliating with its own 34 percent tariff on U.S. exports. Though celebrations in Seoul as the impeached President Yoon is removed from office.

OK. Friday night in Europe or Saturday morning in Asia. You are most welcome and a very good morning, evening to you. Another deep sell-off on Wall Street. China has announced 34 percent retaliatory tariffs against the United States, and that let the market lower. The Federal Reserve chair, Jerome Powell, has been warning of economic pain ahead. Put it all together and the major averages fell more than 5 percent with the Dow of 22 -- you can see the numbers there. The Dow of 2,200, the NASDAQ's now a bear market, which means it's fallen 20 percent from recent highs. The U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio is urging patients.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARCO RUBIO, U.S. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Well, there you have it. President Trump said in a Truth Social post that now, in his words, is a perfect time for the Ded Chair Powell to cut interest rates, Powell to public event says it's too soon to cut.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: Looking ahead, higher tariffs will be working their way through our economy and are likely to raise inflation in coming quarters. While uncertainty remains elevated, it is now becoming clear that tariff increases will be significantly larger than expected, and the same is likely to be true of the economic effects, which will include higher inflation and slower growth. The size and duration of these effects remains uncertain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Now, there's a winner today, Nike was up some 3 percent. President Trump writing in a Truth Social post that Vietnam's looking to cut a deal that would slash its tariffs to zero. Nike has moved a lot of its manufacturing to Vietnam and produces its products. It will be highly exposed to the new tariffs.

In addition to Vietnam, CNN has learned that Donald Trump has spoken to Indian and Israeli representatives about tariff levels. Other big market moves on Friday, oil has been falling. West Texas is down six point a half percent. That's obviously on the back of prospects for economic growth. The 10-year treasury yields falling below 4 percent on recessionary fears and the thought there will be cuts in interest rates.

Diane Swonk is with me. She is the chief economist at KPMG U.S. It is so good to see you with -- you and I have talked on many days and we never really anything quite like this. Pull the strands together of the last day, if you will, and what we're seeing in terms of the macroeconomic effects.

DIANE SWONK, CHIEF ECONOMIST, KPMG U.S.: Well, on April 2nd, the tariffs that were announced if they're taken because they layer on top of each other and they were done in such an unusual way, they actually amount to the highest tariffs since the early 1900 when tariffs, of course, were our primary source of revenues for the U.S. government. That is a regressive tax. It's something -- it's the largest tax hike in modern era, and it hits low- and middle-income households harder and small and mid-sized businesses harder as well, because they're much less able to absorb those shocks.

QUEST: Right. So, what is the fundamental fear that the market is telling us today?

SWONK: The market is very worried that we're going to go into a recession and we could even go into a global recession. These are, you know, larger than the tariffs that were enacted during Smoot-Hawley, which was during the Great Depression, which plunged us deeper into the Great Depression, and that is something that the market is currently now worried about because of the size of the tariffs and the retaliation that we've seen from China.

[18:05:00]

QUEST: And yet, the -- I suppose the contradiction in view between what you've just said of the market's view and the president's view, which is, well, it's all going as we expected, and this was to be expected, and it's a bit of turbulence as things readjust. That diametrically opposed views cannot be reconciled easily. SWONK: No, it can't. And I think what it -- you know, what you heard from the Fed chairman today is what we're most worried about is a period of at least a mild about of stagflation, our own forecast, if these tariffs are carried through, through the end of the year, we will see a recession and we will see higher prices. And it does not allow the Fed to begin cutting due to the recession because of the bump in prices with tariffs until late this year, not as many would like by midyear. And I think that's what you heard from Fed Chairman Powell, was that need to really deal with the inflation issue.

QUEST: OK. So -- but I just read a note from J.P. Morgan saying that they believe that there will be cuts and rates at pretty much each meeting between now and the end of the year. Now, if they are, they are essentially emergency rate cuts in a small E because they're so worried about stagflation. Do you see rate cuts in that same sense?

SWONK: No, and I think that's really important because what we're seeing is actually the -- when we model it out, we see a bump in inflation that does not allow the Fed, and the Fed does not see it that way either.

Now, to get rate cuts like that, you'd really need to see a much more major financial meltdown, which would be much more dire. What J.P. Morgan is looking at is they believe the Fed will look through these -- the inflationary impact of the tariffs and say, well, listen, you know, growth is slowing enough, it will take care of itself.

The Fed can't afford to do that when the embers of inflation are still smoldering, and the Fed has been evoking the lessons of the 1970s as a cautionary tale to not cut too soon to stimulate when you've got a supply shock like the tariffs are creating.

QUEST: Diane, I'm grateful. Diane Swonk at KPMG, thank you for talking to us tonight. Have a good weekend. Thank you.

The White House insiders are telling The Washington Post that President Trump is, in their words, unperturbed by the negative tariff headlines or criticism from foreign leaders. Apparently, he sees the tariff issue as part of his political legacy, well, he is not wrong there. And there are signs that he may be willing to compromise.

Larry Sabato with me, the director of Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. This is a lifelong goal of this U.S. president. He has always wanted -- this is almost -- his economic policy of choice, discretion, delight. This is what he's wanted to do.

LARRY SABATO, CENTER FOR POLITICS DIRECTOR, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: It really is. And he has been convinced by a handful of aides and economists, because as you know better than I do, only a small percentage of economists actually think his plan is going to work. The vast majority think this is crazy.

But he's been convinced that it is the heart of prosperity for the future, the heart of a making, making America even a greater country than it has been before. And he'll be remembered as the president who broke the mold and did it. We'll all be surprised if that happens. But he's convinced himself and he's not moving off of it. He refuses to really consider, at this point, compromise.

He may change if he actually has Republican senior leaders coming to him and saying, President Trump, this is a disaster politically for all of us.

QUEST: Now, the idea that suddenly certain countries are going to do bilaterals, Vietnam, Cambodia, for example. They are meaningless in terms of U.S. exports. They -- it doesn't address the non-tariff barriers, just the headline number. China's retaliating. The E.U. is looking at it.

I mean, how far is it simply possible to reverse the damage that's being inserted into the global economy now?

SABATO: Oh, I don't think this can happen anytime soon. Probably you're talking about many months or possibly years. And let's remember, the United States, thanks to Donald Trump's brief second term so far, has become less reliable as an ally. And that's not just in military matters, but also in trade and economy. I'd say he's done tremendous damage to the American brand in this second term so far.

[18:10:00]

QUEST: Now, relevant to that -- OK. Let's focus on that, because it's tempting to talk about the economics of it. And arguably whether or not this was the right way to do a tariff policy, et cetera, but it can't be taken now -- and you are really good at this, Larry, which is why I'm throwing it right at you on a Friday night. It can't be taken in isolation. You can't just look at the trade bit. You have to look at the foreign policy bit, i.e., Canada, 51st state, offending the closest neighbor, or the E.U., Denmark, Greenland, offending the European Union with its speech at the Munich Conference. Wherever you look this is about the reliability of the United States as an overarching trusted ally.

SABATO: Oh, absolutely it is. And people all across the globe are saying this. And what they're really doing is asking, not just why is Trump so unreliable? They're asking, why is America so unreliable? And I've heard people put it this way. They say if the United States, the electorate in the United States is so unstable that can install someone like Donald Trump, not once, but twice after seeing how he worked for four years and the disasters of that first four years, then wait four years and do it all over again, why should we ever base our future on what we think the United States might do?

QUEST: Turn your attention and look at that exact equation from the U.S. point of view, the view that was espoused yesterday by the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick. They'll love us when we win idea. They won't piss us off because they need our markets. We are the biggest customer. Where does the -- it could be summed up as, where does the 500-pound gorilla sit? Wherever it wants.

SABATO: Oh, I think there are -- there's plenty of room for other smaller gorillas. And we need to remember that people are human beings, even the leaders, they're human beings. And they are extremely upset with Trump and with the United States of America for what they're being put through and their electorates are being put through.

And I think they'll go to, not extremes, but they'll go a long way to making sure they don't work with Trump if they don't have to. They work -- won't work with the USA if they don't have to. And that's a tragedy. We've lost the whole post-World War II sphere of influence that the U.S. had.

QUEST: Larry, I think the only thing I can suggest is that you have a good, strong drink and enjoy Friday evening as best you can, because I think that's the best way to look forward. Thank you, sir, as always, I'm very grateful. Thank you.

SABATO: Thank you.

QUEST: It was a tepid gavel that brought the misery to an end on a pretty horrible day. I think if you watch this, look at it, it's sort of -- I mean, they're called safe bulkers, supposedly safe and home, I guess. Anyway, the trading was over, subdued applause, and that was the reason why largest back-to-back losses since COVID.

And by the way, we strip out pandemic as so are genres, you're talking about going back to 2008 to get such large back-to-back losses overall. The senior floor trader, Peter Tuchman, who's a stock exchange institution and a good friend, told me to expect more falls when we open next week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER TUCHMAN, SENIOR FLOOR BROKER, TRADEMAS: I think the first thing we need to do is try and understand what is Mr. Trump's motivation by doing this. I mean, it just said -- I just noticed -- you know, Richard, I'm actually standing where you and I used to do our reports for so many, many years together. I'm surrounded by TV sets. And over there on Kudlow it says that his attempt at working tariffs was a way of rebalancing the United States position in global trade.

I don't really get it. I don't see what goal he's accomplishing by throwing out these crazy numbers. We know that people like Jeremy Siegel, people way smarter than me, I know I look like Einstein, but I'm not that smart, are saying that the numbers were figured out basically by trade deficit imports versus exports minus 10, plus three, throw a couple M&Ms in there, two kids playing around in the playground and then they come up with a number. None of that is making any sense yet.

So, the first thing that I think will -- in it -- will help us get some clarity is if we saw today that Vietnam threw in the towel. They said, OK. I can't fight this fight. I am cutting all tariffs. Israel yesterday said, we are cutting off all tariffs. My goal is that this is an ego and a power play as you and I spoke last night, right?

[18:15:00]

And so, if everybody crumbles under the weight of this aggressive power play by Mr. Trump, and they all go, you know what, we're going to cancel all tariffs. We're going to cancel all tariffs, and every one of our trading friends and foes, not many friends left, throw in the towel, then maybe that will be the beginning of some kind of a recovery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: A lot of maybes there. President, once again, said he'll delay a ban on TikTok here in the United States. Mr. Trump was posting on social media that the social media platform now has 75 more days to find a non-Chinese buyer. The president appears to imply that TikTok could be a bargaining chip with China in the tariff war. TikTok previously had until Saturday.

So, the bidders are Amazon, Blackstone, even the founder of OnlyFans all have reportedly jumped into the bidding pool. Clare Duffy reports.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: Yes, Richard, this will at least be good news for TikTok's 170 million American users. They will be glad to hear that Trump is allowing another 75 days before he begins enforcing this ban because he says, more time is needed to make a deal to sell TikTok to an American owner.

Now, this is interesting, right? Because both Trump and Vice President Vance had said that they expected to have a deal in place for this Saturday deadline. Now, Trump is saying more time is needed. And what we're being told from a source familiar with the deal is that there was actually a deal in place this week that American investors, ByteDance and Trump administration staff had all been on board with the deal. It was ready for Trump to approve, and then Trump announced these 34 percent tariffs on China and ByteDance representatives told the White House, China isn't going to approve of this deal while these tariffs are in place.

Now, interestingly, ByteDance is acknowledging publicly today that it is in talks with the White House to try to come up with a solution for TikTok U.S. But a spokesperson said that the agreement has not been reached because there are still key matters to resolve. And I think the big question now is can Trump get this deal back on track? Can he convince China to agree to a deal to sell off TikTok to American ownership or will this trade war end up getting in the way of that? That is the big question. But at least for now, some good news for American TikTok users. Richard.

QUEST: Clare Duffy. And now, as you and I continue our discussions this evening, 60 days for South Korea to find a new leader. Now, that the court has removed President Yoon from office. He violated his duties, they say.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

QUEST: South Korea is now going to choose a new president after the country's constitutional court upheld the impeachment of President Yoon Suk Yeol Europe paving the way for an election within 60 days. From Seoul, CNN's Mike Valerio sent this dispatch.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): This is the moment South Korea kicked its president out of office. Both joy and relief among Yoon Suk Yeol's detractors.

KIM NA-YOUNG, SEOUL RESIDENT: It's hard to describe honestly. Excited, happy. But the moment the constitutional court said that he was impeached, I started bawling. I cried for four minutes.

VALERIO (voice-over): In early December, then-President Yoon declared martial law, sending troops to block opposition lawmakers from the legislature. And although Yoon's edict was only briefly held, the decision plunged South Korea into more than a hundred days of political turmoil. Now, that may be over.

HAN DUCK-SOO, ACTING SOUTH KOREAN PRESIDENT (through translator): In support of the will of the sovereign people, we will do our best to manage the next presidential election so that the next government can be launched without disruption in accordance with the constitution and laws.

VALERIO (voice-over): Fears that the former president may try to keep his grip on power eased by his conceding tone Friday, and thanking his supporters for being with him despite his shortcomings.

His error was to remind South Koreans of the dark days of the 1980s when the country was ruled by an autocratic military. The judges on Friday had no sympathy as they ultimately cast him from office.

MOON HYUNG-BAE, ACTING CHIEF JUSTICE, CONSTITUTIONAL COURT OF SOUTH KOREA (through translator): He shocked the people and caused chaos across all fields, including society, economy, politics, and diplomacy. As the president of all the people, he violated his duty to unite society beyond the people who support him.

VALERIO (voice-over): Yoon now faces a criminal trial and the possibility of jail time, but his devastated supporters will continue to back him.

DUYEON KIM, ADJUNCT SENIOR FELLOW, CENTER FOR A NEW AMERICAN SECURITY: The division between the conservatives and progressives, the bitter division will only intensify in the next days, weeks, and months, and even years to come.

VALERIO: The crowd here is stretching almost half a kilometer, about a quarter mile behind us, all the way stretching to the constitutional court. But even though there is celebration, people are quickly realizing that a new chapter is going to begin and that is electing a new president of South Korea.

VALERIO (voice-over): That'll happen sometime in the next 60 days. Until then, South Koreans must wait for certainty and leadership in an increasingly uncertain world.

Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Jeremy Chan is the senior analyst on the China and Northeast Asia team at Eurasia Group and joins me. Well, last time we speak, it was all in the middle of this. You'll remember. It was all right --

JEREMY CHAN, SENIOR ANALYST OF CHINA AND NORTHEAST ASIA, EUREASIA GROUP: I do remember.

QUEST: Going full throttle. All right. So, I'm never sure with South Korea and the constitutional court and all of this where law and politics come apart and then come together, if you know what I mean. Now, clearly the -- what happens next? Who becomes president next?

CHAN: Well -- so, we got the ruling earlier today, Korea time, that means Yoon Suk Yeol is no longer the president.

QUEST: Right.

CHAN: We have up to 60 days to hold the next presidential election, most expected to happen on June 3rd. That's a Tuesday. So, basically at the very end of that 60-day window, we have a pretty good idea who will be representing the opposition party of the center left, a fellow named Mr. Lee Jae-yong, who narrowly lost by less than a percentage point to Yoon in the 2022 presidential election. He has a stranglehold on the left and is almost surely going to be the nominee.

On the right, far less clarity. There will have to be sort of an internal debate within the People Power Party, that's Yoon's conservative party, between the far-right candidates that still back Yoon and believe that its martial law declaration was fundamentally legitimate and more centrist candidates who distance themselves from him in the days and weeks after the martial law declaration.

QUEST: So, if the vote was held tomorrow, would the left or the right win?

CHAN: Oh, I think the left would win in a landslide.

QUEST: And in that -- let's assume that continues through to the election. What difference would that make in terms of how South Korea precedes geopolitically?

CHAN: That's a very good question. So, the first point to underscore is that if Lee of the left wins, he will inherit a national assembly that also has a majority of members of his own party. Unlike Yoon, who served for his two and a half years in office with divided government and never controlled parliament, and therefore, much of his domestic reform agenda was frustrated. Lee will be able to call the shots both domestically and in terms of foreign policy.

[18:25:00]

What are his main priorities? He is a progressive populist, probably of an issue we have not seen in the generation in South Korea. So, domestically, we expect fiscal expansion, larger government budgets, tax increases on corporations and wealthy individuals, as well as greater regulatory burdens for corporations that are seen to be profiting off the back of labor and small, medium enterprises.

In terms of the geopolitics and foreign policy, we expect Lee to, quote/unquote, "rebalance" South Korea's foreign policy away from the pro-U.S. and pro-Japan tilt under Yoon.

QUEST: Where does the tariff arguments come in, looking at the 25 percent tariff from South Korea, you look at the auto tariffs that were also put in, steel and aluminum tariffs that were put in South Korea? And Donald Trump was quite rude about them on Wednesday. Nothing personally said, but they are -- you know, they've done us over and they've done us badly. How much do you expect the trade tariffs to be an issue in this election?

CHAN: That's a very good question. I think it will be front and center in this election. But I think there'll be a broader question as well of sort of where South Korea wants to situate itself in the sort of geopolitical sphere.

So, Lee, off the left, the most likely next president. He has been a long-time skeptic of close U.S. -- or close ties with the U.S., both in terms of, you know, economy as well as security. That doesn't mean that we're going to see a fracture in the security alliance, but you could see growing tensions with Washington over trade and terrorists and also over demands from Trump's White House that South Korea increase the financial support it gives to us troops basically.

QUEST: Good to see you, sir. Have a good -- oh, yes. You're in Washington. Have a good weekend. Thank you. It's been a busy week all around, particularly for you. Not only have you got to deal with tariffs and all that, you got to deal with what's happening in South Korea. I'm grateful to you taking time. Good to see you, sir. Thank you.

CHAN: Thanks for having me.

QUEST: Still ahead, China fighting back, tit for tat, 34, 34. The battle between the two largest economies -- single economies in the world, and what it means for the global economy.

Caught in the middle of the tariff turmoil. U.S. soybean farmers, China is their biggest market. Now, this is going to get interesting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

QUEST: A warm welcome back. It's the CNN Newsroom. I'm Richard Quest. And these are the headlines. We are watching for you today.

Without a ceasefire, Israeli attacks in Gaza have continued throughout the week. The ministry of health in Gaza says 86 bodies and nearly 300 wounded people have been brought to hospitals over the last 24 hours. The authorities say an Israeli airstrike on Khan Younis on Friday killed at least 25 people. CNN's reached out to the Israeli military for more details on the strike. A U.S. judge has ordered the Trump government to return a man who they mistakenly deported to El Salvador. Kilmar Abrego Garcia was taken from Maryland sent to El Salvador's notorious mega-prison. The administration admits the mistake came from, in their words, an administrative error.

Part of the U.S. Southwest and Midwest have -- Midwest and South, I beg your pardon, have been left underwater after flash flooding struck at least five states. A tornado watch affecting nearly 5 million people is in effect.

President Trump has denounced China for its 34 percent retaliatory tariffs. He said on social media, China played it wrong. They panicked. The one thing they cannot afford to do. China said the Trump tariffs are not in line with international trade rules and call the president's move a typical unilateral bullying practice.

Stephen Roach joins me, senior fellow at the Yale Law School and former chair of Morgan Stanley Asia. Good to see you, Stephen, as always. Thank you. I'm grateful. So, did China panic or was their response a carefully crafted, kick somewhere painful back to the U.S.?

STEPHEN ROACH, SENIOR FELLOW, YALE LAW SCHOOL AND FORMER CHAIR, MORGAN STANLEY ASIA: Actually, Richard yes, it's great to see you. I think Trump is the one who's panicking right now, given the route in the stock market over the last couple of days. I think I saw Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on another network yesterday who said, don't retaliate. Anyone who retaliates, it might be silly.

China doesn't take economic warfare as being silly. It's -- it views it as a very real threat to its economic and actually political sovereignty. I was in China last week and I was told on no uncertain terms by very senior Chinese officials that were the U.S. to move forcefully on, quote, "any type of tariffs" that China would most assuredly retaliate, tit for tat, and it's done that.

QUEST: So, what do you make of the other countries in the region? I mean, I understand they're much smaller. The Vietnams, the Cambodias, those who really can't afford to go toe to toe with the U.S. hoping that somehow, they're going to get a reprieve from -- or stay of execution from the administration, which doesn't seem very likely. I don't know.

ROACH: Well, I think the smaller the country is greater, the possibility they might be inclined to negotiate. President Trump, of course, leaked that possibility today with reference to Vietnam. I have no idea if that is going to be the case. But you know, I think that, you know, the president's holding out the view that based on the art of the deal he knows how to get people to cooperate. He just has to be tough and force them into submission.

QUEST: Have a listen to Professor Douglas Irwin, who is the professor of economics. He's an economic historian. Listen to what he says about his reaction and when he heard about the tariffs, and I'm going to come to you for yours.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DOUGLAS IRWIN, JOHN FRENCH PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, DARTMOUTH COLLEGE: I sort of thought, oh, my God, because these are not just incremental tariffs designed to help steel industry here or help the auto industry there. These are, as you said, designed to remake the world economic system, and that's why you're seeing the pain in the markets. This is a very difficult thing to do. We've had this system for a long time. Consumers have benefited a lot from it, and yet, he seems determined to, quot, "impose" these very high tariffs.

I mean, my first reaction was when have we seen this in history? And as you mentioned, the Smoot-Hawley tariff. This is greater than Smoot- Hawley in terms of the scope of imports it's covering, the importance of imports in the U.S. and the height of the tariffs. So, we have not done this for a long, long time trying to remake the world economic system.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[18:35:00]

QUEST: So, bearing in mind remaking of the world economic system in this way, Asia is simply not going to accept it in a way that it would've done say 60, 70 years ago.

ROACH: Well, first of all, I agree with Professor Irwin completely, and I would say that we are attempting to remake the world economic system that we were the lead builders of in the immediate aftermath of World War II. So, we're turning our own system inside out. And Asia, you're right, is a lot stronger as a region today than it was in the immediate aftermath of World War II.

And so, it certainly wants to have -- play a significant role on the system, whether it's in the current form or in any new form. And it's not going to be passive in response to the bludgeoning that President Trump is attempting to accomplish.

QUEST: Stephen, I'm grateful to you, sir. Thank you as always, and I wish you a good weekend. Many thanks.

Now, U.S. farmers are caught in the middle as the trade war escalates. China is the top market for soybean imports from the U.S. Now, it might look too Brazil and Argentina. Instead, the Senate Republican Jerry Moran whose State Kansas is a major soybean producer, has told us the tariffs could harm farmers long-term.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JERRY MORAN (R-KS): We often lose markets with tariffs as well, and they don't come back. So, even if you compensate farmers, how do you get soybeans that we used to sell to somebody that no longer buys from us because they're cheaper someplace else?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: Dave Walton is an Iowa farmer and the director of American Soybean Association. Not a particularly happy week for you and your farmers is it, because if the retaliate -- well, we've seen 34 percent now from China, if others do likewise. How are your farming -- how are your members going to cope with this?

DAVE WALTON, DIRECTOR, AMERICAN SOYBEAN ASSOCIATION: Well, this is going to be a tough one. You know, your lead in there was pretty accurate. In 2000, '18, '19, we went through this before and saw a loss of market share to China and that went to our competitors. So, you know, this is going to be a pretty big storm to weather here.

QUEST: What's the biggest problem? Is it that -- you know, it simply becomes too expensive? If you have these very high tariffs, then you just can't compete on price. So, you can compete on quality, but not on price?

WALTON: Yes, certainly. I mean, we have the best quality soybeans in the world, but price becomes an issue for our buyers. And when the price spread gets too great, they look for other sources. And those sources right now are Brazil and Argentina. And it's really, really difficult to overcome that price spread between those -- between our country and our competitors.

QUEST: Now, if we take your members, not only are they being hit now by tariffs, farmers generally soybean farmers as well are also being hit by all the changes happening within the Department of Agriculture, within the methods of financing, within the bank guarantees, the chaos in it to a certain extent. Are you getting messages from your members about these issues and how difficult it is?

WALTON: Oh, we certainly are. I mean, I hear it almost every day from members how difficult farming is for right now. Financially, we're looking at a crop that we're about to put in the ground that we may do for a break even. There hasn't been much profit in it and this just adds more headwinds to what we've got to deal with.

So, you know, trade tariff are big issues for us. There's a bright spot maybe coming and the biofuels, especially biodiesel industry, we can see expansion of further use of soybean oil there. But we're going to need some help from the administration to get that done.

QUEST: What help do you want? If you had the sec. A.G. in front of you, what would you be saying to him?

WALTON: Well, certainly, you know, we're going to have to mitigate the impacts of the trade war that we're -- we've just entered into. So, we're going to need to see something to offset the loss and market price there. We'd like to see them go back to the negotiating -- you know, there's been some tariff and non-tariff barriers that have been put up by our trading partners. We'd like to see them get back to the negotiating table and work those through so we can get back to free and fair trade.

And really that's all farmers want. We want the free market to work. We want free and fair trade around the world so that our soybeans can move freely in the world market without import barriers in other countries. QUEST: I'm grateful to you, sir. Thank you for joining me from Iowa. What a magnificent state. What a wonderful place Iowa is. And I'm -- when I visited many, many times. Thank you, sir, for joining us.

[18:40:00]

Now, tariff hikes can also affect the next cup of coffee that you have -- not maybe, the next one, but you know what I mean, in a few weeks' time. The prices are already high. Now, cups of coffee could soon come with more -- well, the world's largest suppliers of raw coffee beans, Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia are facing tax hikes and probably will put back the same.

So, don't expect the crop grown in the United States to be in here any soon. Coffee needs tropical temperatures to grow. Stefano Pozzebon join me from Bogota. Good grief, Stefano, please, tell me you, how many cups have you had? I mean, every time I've seen you during the course of the day, you've had a couple of -- please tell me, some of them are decaf.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Richard, when you are surrounded by so much coffee as I am right now, they told me that here I'm around about 500,000 kilograms of coffee in this warehouse, which is where Colombia stores its beans before they're ready for export. So, you need to indulge every now and then with a good hot cup.

However, most of this coffee, it's fair to say, is destined for the United States because about 40 percent of Colombian coffee goes towards America. It's the largest market for Colombian farmers. And I bet that if you were to speak with the many coffee farmers that I've spoken with in the last few days, they will tell you exactly the same things that soy farmer gentleman just told you, that they are in favor of free trade because these are -- jobs, especially here in the Global South.

There are about 3 million people or 500,000 families that depend on coffee. And of course, the United States is the largest market. Now, are they worried about their bottom line when it comes to these tariffs? Yes, they are. But at the same time, they know that the United States cannot just start harvesting coffee from California to Oregon. They will still have to purchase coffee. And frankly, Richard, no coffee is better than the one in Colombia.

However, who will pay for the extra price on this cup? Well, that remains to be seen.

QUEST: No, it doesn't. No, it doesn't. Now, I'll end up paying for it. That much I can tell already. That'll be passed on. Because it's a 10 percent tariff. It'll get passed on right the way down the chain. But let's assume that Colombia's coffee gurus decide, no, we've got to look for new markets. We've got to find new markets because the U.S. is unreliable. Where would they send it to? I mean, Canada can only drink so much coffee.

POZZEBON: Canada is the second largest purchaser of Colombian coffee. But still, it's less than 20 percent of what Americans consume. However, there are other emerging markets. The Chinese middle class is learning to like and to love coffee just like you and I do. And the other countries around the world, you have the Arab Emirates, you have other markets. So, surely Colombia wants to diversify and to -- the rest of the world.

However, the largest one is still the United States. So, when it came to those tariffs on Wednesday, there were still a sense of a shock here because the Colombian Coffee Federation -- to their allies at the National Coffee Association up there in the U.S. to try to exempt coffee from these tariffs.

QUEST: Right.

POZZEBON: That may be still ready for negotiations, perhaps.

QUEST: Good to see you, Stefano. Send me a kilo or two. They won't miss them. Just send me a couple.

POZZEBON: I'll send you one of these. These are 70 kilograms, Richard. I'll send you one of these. 71 to you in New York.

QUEST: Absolutely. That'll be just perfect. That'll see me through till Christmas. Thank you, sir. Stefano joining me from Bogota.

POZZEBON: Cheers.

QUEST: In fact, by the way, the sun is over the yard arm. It's time for go for something stronger. You can have a cocktail now. Good to see you.

Now. Quest -- oh no it not "Quest Means Business." Oh, my gosh. We have gotten all of that's been having one over the yard on. In a moment, new breakthroughs in quantum computing. The scientific first and the creation of a truly random number, right? Well, I could come up with a few random numbers, but I don't think that's what they mean. In a minute.

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[18:45:00]

QUEST: Heads or tails. It's the simple feat of tossing a coin and it gives you a seemingly random outcome. I know you think it's going to be 50-50. You know what I'm talking about. Actually, researchers are now saying even tiny factors can influence the outcome of the toying -- the coin toss. Generating truly random numbers has perplexed computer scientists for years. Quantum computing may provide the answer to many of the world's problems. Anna Stewart has been looking into it.

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ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): When is a random number, truly random? Contrary to the name, computer generated random numbers are not truly random because they rely on predictable algorithms. Mathematicians and computer scientists have been searching for a way to create a truly random number.

And now the Quantum computing company, Quantinuum, claims it has successfully produced a number certified as being truly random. How can quantum computers do what conventional computers can't? Well, it's based on something called super position. Our computers process information in the form of bits, which can either be one or zero. Quantum computers use quantum bits or qubits, which can embody zero and one to varying degrees at the same time.

Think of it like flipping a coin, classical bit. So, the flipped coin, heads or tails. Qubits are the coin as its flipping, which has a probability of being heads or tails. This qubit property is known as superposition. It allows quantum computers to solve complex problems in minutes that would take conventional computers thousands or millions of years to solve.

It's a capability that many are racing to utilize. In recent months, Google, Microsoft and Amazon presented new quantum computing chips. In December, China unveiled its newest quantum computer with a 504-qubit chip, beating the previous 500-qubit threshold.

While quantum computers have high potential, they are very prone to error. Since the delicate qubits can be jostled by even a subatomic particle, they require highly controlled environments.

NATALIA ARES, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, DEPARTMENT OF ENGINEERING, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD: One of the most important challenges that we have in quantum computing is error mitigation and scalability, being able to make chips that are big enough to perform relevant computation.

STEWART (voice-over): A research team at Oxford is addressing the scalability problem. They recently demonstrated the first instance of distributed quantum computing. This process links small quantum devices together, allowing computations to be distributed across a network.

DOUGAL MAIN, DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS GRADUATE STUDENT, UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD: The advantage of this is that you can then preserve the reduced complexity of the smaller quantum processor while still being able to get these processors to act together to form one single, fully connected quantum computer.

[18:50:00]

STEWART (voice-over): It's a step toward practical, large scale quantum computing, which most experts believe will still take years, and could eventually reinvent various industries and scientific research, solving problems in medicine, battery chemistry, cybersecurity, and artificial intelligence. But for now, at least, it can create a legitimate random number.

Anna Stewart, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

QUEST: Gosh, fascinating. Absolutely fascinating. What's rife fully under everything, but I can certainly see why it's important.

No regrets. Legendary Stryker, Alan Shearer tells us why he wouldn't trade his last 10 years with Newcastle for all the trophies in the world.

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QUEST: Magnificent. The English football side, Newcastle had a superb season capturing their first domestic trophy in 70 years, and they defeated Liverpool in the League Cup final, and they're still in the running for a top four finish in the Premier. And the club legend, Alan Shearer, didn't win any trophies for Newcastle. But he still holds the records for most goals in Premier League history. He sat down with fellow Striker Ally McCoist. He's their conversation from our partners at TNT Sports.

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ALLY MCCOIST, FORMER STRIKER, NOW BROADCAST FOR TNT SPORTS: Alan, you couldn't written a planned that whole script coming back to your club, to your city. It's some -- special.

IT WAS -- ALAN SHEARER, NEWCASTLE UNITED LEGEND, PREMIER LEAGUE RECORD GOALSCORER (260 GOALS): It was -- I mean, obviously, I'd supported Newcastle. I'd stood on the Gallagher end as a kid. My dad's hero was Jackie Milburn. I'd watched him for years. My hero was Kevin Keegan.

MCCOIST: Yes.

SHEARER: I'd watched him in the '80s when he signed as a player. And yes, I just, I couldn't turn down the opportunity, you know, I wanted to have great years. My -- some of my best years as a player playing for Newcastle rather than coming back when I was in my mid-30s and whatever it may be. And being on my last legs, I wanted to play for them while I still had something to offer. And it was just everything that I wanted and hoped for. And every -- and so much more than that, you know, to play at my club and score goals at the Gallagher end, where I stood as a kid, I mean, it was a dream come true. It's what -- it's every boy's dream.

You know, whatever city you are born in and you support, and can you imagine I've been given that opportunity? I was the world's most expensive player and I had the number nine shirt on, which I always wanted to do. And it was, I mean, I had -- it was 10 unbelievable years. It was -- if I had this decision to make again, I would make exactly the same decision.

MCCOIST: Yes.

[18:55:00]

SHEARER: I know that I've missed out on a lot of trophies with Man United. I'd have won so many more trophies. I know that, but I wouldn't have -- I'm not sure I would've had and had that feeling that I get playing for Newcastle for 10 years and have the gold scoring record. I mean, I was lucky enough to break my dad's hero's record, Jackie Milburn's record --

MCCOIST: Well, there's something about the old center forward at Newcastle.

SHEARER: Yes.

MCCOIST: Super Mike (ph), World Jackie (ph). Something about it, isn't it?

SHEARER: So, to have 10 years, to have a testimonial, to have a statue, to have the goal scoring record and to live my dream, I live my dream, man. It was like I'm more than, more than happy. I left home as a 15-year-old kid to go and play football, to be paid, to play football. So, then to have Southampton win the title of Blackburn, have four great years there, and then come and play for Newcastle United, my hometown team, I've lived a dream.

I've done -- I did -- I've sort of, what's your old song? I did it my way. I wouldn't change anything. I would've made all the same decisions. I'm absolutely delighted with the way it went. I met some great people over the years. Got paid. Doesn't get any better than that, does it?

MCCOIST: It doesn't, mate. No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: I'm grateful for your company tonight. I'm Richard Quest in New York. What a week it's been. Have a good weekend. Because the news never stops, neither do we.

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