A new tariff on imported medication

Summary

Marketplace Morning Report

Episode: A new tariff on imported medication
Host: Saree Benishore (in for David Brancaccio)
Date: April 3, 2026
Duration: ~10 minutes

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Overview

This episode of Marketplace Morning Report covers:

• President Trump’s new tariffs targeting imported medications and changes in tariffs on metals,
• The latest U.S. jobs report for March, with expert analysis,
• A look at an unusual business: converting classic cars to electric, as part of the "Business Envy" series.

The show maintains its signature brisk, informative tone, providing quick, punchy updates and expert commentary relevant to business and economic trends.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. New Tariffs on Imported Medications and Metals

[01:10 – 02:53]

Summary

Nova Safo reports on President Trump’s newly announced executive order:

• Tariffs up to 100% on imported patented drugs, with exceptions:
  • Waivers or reductions for companies making pricing deals with the administration or building manufacturing in the U.S.
  • Lower tariffs for countries with existing trade deals (UK, EU).
• Metal tariff overhaul:
  • Tariffs simplified to combat cheating.
  • 50% tariffs eliminated on products with small metal amounts.
  • Most other products see tariffs drop to 25%, but tariffs now assessed on the full value of the product (not just the metal content).
  • Metal imports: Tariffs based on U.S. market value, aiming to halt importers underreporting prices.

Notable Quote

• Nova Safo:

  “Drug makers that reach pricing deals with the Trump administration or are at minimum building manufacturing facilities in the US can avoid the levies or pay only 20%.” [01:40]

• Nova Safo:

  “Some importers have been gaming the system with artificially low prices charged abroad.” [02:40]

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2. March Jobs Report & Labor Market Analysis

[04:17 – 06:00]

Summary

• 178,000 new jobs added in March.
• Unemployment rate down to 4.3%.
• Discussion with Julia Coronado, Macro Policy Perspectives, UT Austin.
  • Jobs growth headline is "strong," but averages mask volatility and underlying weakness.
  • Recent months have seen wide swings in job numbers (e.g., February had a loss of 133,000 jobs).
  • Worrying rise in long-term unemployment: over 300,000 more than a year ago.
  • Underlying story: "Low hire, low fire environment"—it's hard to get a new job if you lose one.
  • Labor data is noisy due to statistical agency budget cuts and ongoing economic disruption.

Notable Quotes

• Julia Coronado:

  “It’s a strong report in the headlines, but there’s also a lot of noise. We have 178,000 jobs in March after 133,000 job loss in February. So averaging through that, it’s a pretty low but positive rate of hiring.” [04:39]

• Julia Coronado:

  “We are in what we call a low hire, low fire environment. So for those people who do lose their jobs, it’s increasingly difficult to secure a new position. And that’s not a sign of strength.” [05:06]

• Julia Coronado:

  “It means it reflects a couple of things. One, it reflects that the budgets of the statistical agencies have been slashed, so it’s harder for them to collect the data... and it also reflects an economy that is being pretty disrupted.” [05:32]

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3. “Business Envy” Profile: Moment Motors – Electrifying Classic Cars

[06:02 – 10:00]

Summary

David Brancaccio explores a dream job: retrofitting classic cars with electric engines. He speaks with Mark Davis, founder of Moment Motors in Austin, TX:

• The company takes beloved classic cars, removes the internal combustion engine, and installs a modern electric drivetrain.
• Uses off-the-shelf motors and batteries from top suppliers, fitting each build to the individual car.
• Modular approach for vehicle-specific customization.
• Cost: $75,000–$175,000, depending on size, power needs, and vehicle condition.
• Motivation for clients: the unique experience of silent, powerful, eco-friendly driving in a classic frame.
• Some classic car purists worry about “removing the soul,” but Davis argues it’s about preserving and extending the life of vehicles that might otherwise rot away.

Notable Quotes

• Mark Davis:

  “We are creating a drivetrain that fits into these classic cars... we have to have a modular solution that we can adapt to each one of those different platforms.” [06:56]

• Mark Davis (on cost):

  “We kind of say on our website it’s anywhere from 75,000 to 175,000. A lot of it depends on the size of the vehicle, the power requirements, and the condition of the vehicle.” [07:51]

• Mark Davis (on purists):

  “If you went back into the 60s and found some Mercedes engineers and said, hey, we’ve got this amazing electric power plant... Do you want to use it? Every single one of them would have raised their hand and said, absolutely.” [09:08]

• Mark Davis:

  “These cars... if they are not taken care of, end up in people’s garages and then barns and then... sitting, rotting away. And this, this allows them to be driven and, and experienced... and I think that’s part of, you know, preservation.” [09:36]

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Memorable Moments & Timestamps

• [01:40] Nova Safo on which drugmakers can avoid the highest tariffs.
• [04:39] Julia Coronado explains why the strong headline jobs numbers are misleading.
• [07:51] Mark Davis reveals the conversion price range and rationale.
• [09:08] Davis’ persuasive retort to the idea that electric conversion ruins a classic’s soul.

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Episode Flow & Tone

• The tone is efficient yet conversational, gently interweaving expert insights and real-world impacts.
• The ask-and-answer structure with Julia Coronado makes economic data approachable and tangible.
• The "Business Envy" segment is aspirational, personalizing the entrepreneurial experience.

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For Listeners Who Missed the Show

This episode delivers key updates on government policy shifts (tariffs), practical economic analysis (employment), and a profile of a niche but growing business. You’ll get a snapshot of how new policies might affect drug prices and imported goods, what’s really driving the labor market numbers behind the headlines, and have some fun imagining a job retrofitting classic cars for the electric age.

Transcript

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[Saree Benishore]

and you thought we were done with tariffs for a little while. From Marketplace, I'm Saree Benishore, in for David Brancaccio. President Trump signed an executive order threatening new tariffs on imported medications. They could be as high as 100%. The President also overhauled how steel, aluminum and copper tariffs are collected. Marketplace's Nova Safo has more.

[Nova Safo]

The new tariffs on patented drugs come with lots of exceptions. Drug makers that reach pricing deals with the Trump administration or are at minimum building manufacturing facilities in the US can avoid the levies or pay only 20%. Existing trade deals with countries, including the UK and those in the EU, mean lower tariffs. For drug makers, there are. As for the metal tariffs, changes are said to be focused on simplifying how they're collected and to combat cheating. 50% tariffs will be eliminated for products that contain small amounts of aluminum, steel or copper. They'll come down to 25% for most other products, such as household appliances. But they'll now be assessed on the full value of the product, not just of the metal it contains. In addition, the administration will now calculate levies on imports of the metals themselves based on what they're worth in the U.S. the White House says some importers have been gaming the system with artificially low prices charged abroad. I'm Nova Safo for Marketplace.

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[Saree Benishore]

The economy added 178,000 new jobs in March. The Bureau of Labor Statistics announced just a few minutes ago. The unemployment rate ticked down a notch to 4.3%. Julia Coronado is on the line to talk about it. She's founder of Macro Policy Perspectives and a professor at UT Austin. Hi Julia.

[Julia Coronado]

Hello. How are you?

[Saree Benishore]

Good. So 178,000 jobs, unemployment rate ticks down. How do we feel about that?

[Julia Coronado]

Well, it's a strong report in the headlines, but there's also a lot of noise. We have 178,000 jobs in March after 133,000 job loss in February. So averaging through that, it's a pretty low but positive rate of hiring.

[Saree Benishore]

The number of long term unemployed people is up more than 300,000 in a year. Worrying or no?

[Julia Coronado]

Well, yes, it is worrying. We are in what we call a low hire, low fire environment. So for those people who do lose their jobs, it's increasingly difficult to secure a new position. And that's not a sign of strength.

[Saree Benishore]

As you kind of mentioned, the number of job gains or losses really for the past year has been just wildly all over the place one month to the next, same thing with revisions. What does that mean?

[Julia Coronado]

It means it reflects a couple of things. One, it reflects that the budgets of the statistical agencies have been slashed, so it's harder for them to collect the data and we get more noise in the data. And it also reflects an economy that is being pretty disrupted. So there's a lot of shifts and changes in the sectors that are driving hiring and that also adds noise to the data.

[Saree Benishore]

Julia Coronado, Macro Policy Perspectives thank you so much.

[Julia Coronado]

My pleasure.

[Saree Benishore]

Have you ever thought to yourself, I should have been a doctor or chemist or a bartender? Some job you're not doing, but wish you were. My colleague, David Brancaccio is exploring the roads not traveled in his series, but business envy. Today he talks to Mark Davis, founder of Moment Motors out of Austin, Texas. He and his team convert vintage cars for a price, which is something David thinks he could do.

[David Brancaccio]

All right, so I gotta find a classic car that I love or maybe owned already. I don't own a classic car, but I'll have to find one. I could bring it to you. And you could do what with it?

[Mark Davis]

You want to start with a classic car that you love, and we take them in and we strip out their internal combustion engine drivetrains and we replace it with a brand new electric drivetrain.

[David Brancaccio]

And you're not starting from scratch on the electric motor. Right. Is it like a modular system that could be used in different cars?

[Mark Davis]

We're a small company, so we're not inventing our own motors or our own battery cells or anything like that. What we're doing is we're piecing together automotive technology from the most, you know, modern suppliers we can, we can work with. And we are creating a drivetrain that fits into these classic cars. And as we're approaching these different vehicles, you know, everyone is different. And so we have to have a modular solution that we can adapt to each one of those different platforms.

[David Brancaccio]

All right, now, this statistic I'm mentioning for a reason. The average cost of private four year college per year in America is 45 grand. Okay? So to do this, if I bring you a classic car, is it two years, three years, four years worth of college? It would cost.

[Mark Davis]

Oh, that's funny that you would use that metric as I am paying for one of those kids right now.

[David Brancaccio]

Oh, I see.

[Mark Davis]

Yeah, we kind of say on our website it's anywhere from 75,000 to 175,000. A lot of it depends on the size of the vehicle, the power requirements, and the condition of the vehicle. And so it does vary. But yeah, it is expensive. You do this because. Because you want the end result. You want this amazing experience of flying down the highway silently with so much modern electric torque and power, but still be sitting in a 1960s Mercedes or any car that you dream of.

[David Brancaccio]

I have a list of five that I would like you to do for me. Let me bounce each of them off of you to see if one would be better than another. I don't own any of them. But you got a dream.

[Mark Davis]

Exactly.

[David Brancaccio]

Okay, numero uno for me is Roger Moore's car from the Saint. I would go with a 19. In my case, 1969 Volvo P1800. Is that too small to do?

[Mark Davis]

No, absolutely. We've had lots of inquiries about the P1008 hundreds. They're really interesting cars. We haven't done one, but they're absolutely convertible.

[David Brancaccio]

All right. Now, my mom, if she were still with us, would ask you to convert a 1972 Mercedes SL2 seater convertible. That would work, right? Big enough.

[Mark Davis]

You know, there is a lot of heartache about what we do from some aficionados who are concerned that we're taking the soul out of the car by taking the, you know, the gas engine out of it. And I can guarantee you that if you went back into the 60s and found some Mercedes engineers and said, hey, we've got this amazing electric power plant, you know, 370 foot pounds of torque and 300 horsepower. Do you want to use it? Every single one of them would have raised their hand and said, absolutely, and put it in those cars.

[David Brancaccio]

Some of it's about preservation, right?

[Mark Davis]

People do this for a variety of different reasons, but it is fundamentally about preservation. These cars, you know, if they are not taken care of, end up in people's garages and then barns and then, you know, sitting, rotting away. And this, this allows them to be driven and, and experienced, you know, anytime and anywhere. And I think that that's part of, you know, preservation.

[David Brancaccio]

Mark Davis, founder of Moment Motors in Austin, Texas, thank you very much.

[Mark Davis]

Thank you.

[Saree Benishore]

And that was Marketplace's David Brancaccio there. And next week David is back covering a pioneering roaster of coffee beans, a firm that makes non toxic rocket engines, and a co op that furnishes tools and training so you can fix your own bike. If you have ever heard of a job so good, you would live for Monday mornings. Email us. You can find [e-mail] our executive producer is Nancy Fargali. Our digital team includes Antoinette Brock, Emily McCune and Dylan Mietz. Our engineers are Brian Allison, Tessa Block and David Schreck. And in New York, I'm sabrinashore with the Marketplace morning report. From APM American Public Media.

[Maria Reyes]

Why do we keep putting off the financial tasks we know we need to do? I'm Maria Reyes and this week on my podcast this is Uncomfortable, I talk with a behavioral expert about connecting commitment devices, the tricks we can use to force ourselves to follow through. The most extreme form of commitment device is literally saying you're going to fine yourself. Like I'm going to have to give $50 to a politician's campaign who I hate if I haven't done this by next Friday. Listen to this is uncomfortable. Wherever you get your podcast.