Companies seek ways around Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

All eyes are on President Donald Trump and trade Wednesday, April 2, as the president promises to levy tariffs on our trade partners. Also, Republicans claim victory in two Florida special elections, while Democrats rejoice about a judge in Wisconsin. These stories and more highlight your Unbiased Updates for Wednesday, April 2, 2025.

Companies seek ways around Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs

According to President Donald Trump, it’s “Liberation Day.” The president promised a new wave of tariffs Wednesday, April 2, targeting America’s trade partners with levies to create a fairer trading environment.

Trump has touted a special term for the day. He vowed to impose tariffs on imports from other countries, which he claimed would reduce Americans’ reliance on foreign goods.

For many companies, it’s less a celebration and more a frantic effort to navigate or evade the new tariffs. The tariffs may force companies to rethink supply chain strategies to minimize penalties.

Straight Arrow News business correspondent Simone del Rosario explains how the process operates on different levels here.

Trump said some of the tariffs he’s implementing this week could enable the government to raise over a trillion dollars in the coming year, which he would use to help reduce the national debt and potentially offset some income taxes.

However, much remains unclear about how the Trump administration will implement these tariffs and whether they will cause further delays or confusion this week.

Just days before “Liberation Day,” Goldman Sachs upped the probability of a recession to 35% in a research note on Monday, March 31. The bank pegged recession chances at 20% earlier in March.

Republicans secure two more House seats following Florida special election

The Republicans’ slim majority in the House just grew a bit larger after GOP congressional candidates in two Florida districts won special elections Tuesday night, April 1.

Republican State Sen. Randy Fine defeated Democrat Josh Weil for Florida’s 6th District seat previously held by Mike Waltz, who left his seat after becoming Trump’s national security advisor. The GOP expressed concern about the race after Weil raised almost $10 million combined, while Fine garnered less than $1 million.

Polls also showed Weil gaining popularity in the district.

However, Fine secured the vote and will represent Florida’s 6th District in Congress.

“I’m super excited at the opportunity. I’m grateful to voters,” Fine said Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Florida’s chief financial advisor, Republican Jimmy Patronis, defeated Democrat Gay Valimont to secure Florida 1st District seat. Former Rep. Matt Gaetz held the seat until he vacated it in January.

Trump congratulated Fine and Patronis on their wins via Truth Social.

In Wisconsin, the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history went to the Democrat-backed candidate for the state Supreme Court, Susan Crawford, who beat the Republican-endorsed Waukesha County Judge Brad Schimel.

The typically low-profile race gained national attention as billionaire Elon Musk poured tens of millions of dollars into it, spending around $25 million in support of Schimel.

“As a little girl growing up in Chippewa falls, I never could have imagined that I would be taking on the richest man in the world for justice in Wisconsin. And we won,” Crawford said.

In total, the candidates and outside groups spent more than $81 million on the race.

As the election approached, liberals maintained a four-to-three majority in the state’s Supreme Court. The Wisconsin Supreme Court will rule on cases related to abortion rights, congressional redistricting, union power and voting and election laws.

Trump administration cuts members of FDA bird flu response team

The Trump administration announced it cut U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s bird flu response team members as part of its mass layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The American Veterinary Medical Association and Reuters confirmed the firings.

The move comes as the Trump administration denied access to many employees attempting to enter office buildings, as part of its plan to reduce the size of government.

The administration dismissed leadership and administration workers at the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine.

An employee at the Center for Veterinary Medicine said the Trump administration dismissed nearly all administrative staff, as well as employees involved in policy, legal and communications work.

According to the employee who took a deferred resignation, the administration also terminated managers.

Israel expands offensive into larger areas of Gaza

Airstrikes continued in Gaza on Wednesday, April 2, as Israel said its military is expanding its offensive into “larger areas” of the war-torn enclave.

In a written statement, Israel’s defense minister said the move is meant to “crush and clean the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure.”

Israeli officials did not specify which areas of Gaza would be seized in the expanded operation; however, it includes the “extensive evacuation” of residents from combat zones.

Israel is once again calling for the return of hostages taken by Hamas in their initial attack on Oct. 7, 2023.

The militant group still holds 59 captives, 24 of whom are believed to still be alive. Hamas released others during ceasefire agreements.

Meanwhile, Trump posted on Truth Social that he spoke with the Egyptian president by phone about possible solutions in Gaza and the success of the U.S. airstrikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.

Val Kilmer, ‘Top Gun’ actor, dead at 65

Renowned actor Val Kilmer, who played Iceman in “Top Gun” and the Caped Crusader in “Batman Forever,” died Tuesday, April 1, at 65.

His daughter, Mercedes Kilmer, confirmed his death to The Associated Press, saying the 65-year-old was surrounded by family and friends in Los Angeles at the time of his death.

Mercedes Kilmer confirmed Val Kilmer died of pneumonia. The actor was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014 but recovered after undergoing two tracheotomies.

Val Kilmer’s career reached its pinnacle in the early 1990s as he starred alongside Kurt Russell and Bill Paxton in 1993’s “Tombstone” and alongside Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in “Heat.”

Actor Josh Brolin, a friend of Val Kilmer, posted a tribute to him on Instagram, saying, “You were a smart, challenging, brave, uber-creative firecracker. There’s not a lot left of those.”

NFL replaces ‘chain gangs’ with new tech for 2025 season

The NFL is eliminating its “chain gangs” for the 2025 season.

Instead, they will determine whether teams have made a first down by using Sony’s Hawk-Eye system, consisting of six 8K cameras placed around each stadium, to optically track the ball’s position.

However, the chain gang — the nickname for the team of officials who walk onto the field at critical moments to measure whether the ball has gone 10 yards — will “remain on the field in a secondary capacity.”

That’s not the only change coming to the 2025 season.

Straight Arrow News reporter Chris Francis has more details on what was decided at the most recent owners’ meetings here.