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Invest Puerto Rico Narrator
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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 us@morningreportplace.org 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.
Episode: A new tariff on imported medication
Host: Saree Benishore (in for David Brancaccio)
Date: April 3, 2026
Duration: ~10 minutes
This episode of Marketplace Morning Report covers:
The show maintains its signature brisk, informative tone, providing quick, punchy updates and expert commentary relevant to business and economic trends.
[01:10 – 02:53]
Nova Safo reports on President Trump’s newly announced executive order:
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]
[04:17 – 06:00]
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]
[06:02 – 10:00]
David Brancaccio explores a dream job: retrofitting classic cars with electric engines. He speaks with Mark Davis, founder of Moment Motors in Austin, TX:
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]
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.