White House Reacts to Musk Leaving; US to Impose 10 Percent Global Tariffs

7 Takeaways From Trump’s Reciprocal Tariff Roll OutJust 72 days after taking office, President Donald Trump announced sweeping trade policy changes, introducing what he called “reciprocal tariffs” for all countries and declaring it “Liberation Day in America.” For decades, the United States has kept low trade barriers, promoting free trade agreements with minimal or zero tariffs—at least on its part. Those days are now over.

​​At a White House event, Trump presented a large chart outlining a baseline and reciprocal tariff rates trading partners now face in attempts to balance their high trade barriers against U.S. goods. The rates include a flat 10 percent levy, along with additional rates tailored to match each nation’s trade barriers on America.

Trump’s new tariff regime is designed to boost U.S. manufacturing and create American jobs, but the effects on inflation and the short-term and long-term impacts on the economy remain to be seen. Here are seven takeaways from Wednesday’s announcement.

Senate Releases Compromise Budget Blueprint to Advance Trump AgendaThe Senate released a budget resolution on Wednesday as part of a compromise with the House of Representatives, as Republicans look to enact President Donald Trump’s agenda.

Both houses of Congress must pass an identical budget resolution to begin the process called budget reconciliation. This mechanism allows for measures related to taxing, spending, and the national debt to pass without facing the 60-vote filibuster threshold in the Senate that applies to most legislation. The new resolution follows weeks of negotiations between the House and the Senate. It instructs both the House and Senate to reduce the deficit by $1.5 trillion over a decade and make Trump’s 2017 tax cuts permanent.

However, the resolution also has different sets of instructions for the House and Senate. One of the contrasting directives tells the House to put forth a reconciliation bill that raises the debt ceiling by as much as $4 trillion, while for the Senate, it is $5 trillion. The differences would give the House and the Senate flexibility in proposing drafts of reconciliation bills. An identical one would need to pass both chambers to get to Trump’s desk. (More)

Tennessee Enacts Law to Stop Health Coverage for China-Linked Organ TransplantsTennessee has enacted legislation to stop health insurance coverage for human organ transplant surgeries linked to China, becoming the fourth state to act against the Chinese Communist Party’s killing-for-organs scheme.

The Tennessee Genomic Security and End Organ Harvesting Act, unanimously passed earlier by both chambers of the state legislature, addresses the concerns with Beijing’s potential access to Americans’ genomic data collection as well as complicity with the regime’s state-sanctioned forced organ harvesting. Gov. Bill Lee signed the bill on March 28.

Beginning in 2026, health insurers in Tennessee will no longer be able to knowingly fund organ transplant surgery and post-transplant care if the operation takes place in China or the organ comes from China via sale or donation. Violators will face $100,000 in fines for each offense. (More)