Hello and welcome to Background Briefing, available 24-7 at Background Briefing.org. I'm Ian Masters,

and today we look into a number of stories and issues in the news.

We'll begin with the shameful reality that thanks to Elon Musk,

the U.S. is not sending humanitarian aid to Myanmar following a deadly earthquake that devastated the country's second largest city, Mandalay,

because USAID has been gutted and now only has 15 employees left.

Joining us is Michael Martin, who has had a career of more than 30 years focusing on political

and economic developments in Asia, especially in Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Burma, Myanmar.

He has taught economics at Colby College, Deshisha University, Hong Kong Baptist University and Tufts University.

And from 1994 to 1998, he was an assistant chief economist for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

And from 2006 to 2021, he was a specialist in Asian Affairs at the Congressional Research Service,

keeping the United States Congress informed about the situations in Hong Kong, Vietnam, and Burma.

Then we will discuss Trump's declaration that tomorrow will be Liberation Day

when he will impose additional tariffs on top of the 25% tariffs on automobiles and parts from

Europe, South Korea and Japan.

Already the Europeans have said these tariffs will be met with a strong plan to retaliate,

while China, South Korea and Japan are being driven together by Trump's stupidity to make plans for their own free trade agreement.

Joining us is Matthew Klein, the founder and publisher of the Overshoot, a research service focused

on the global economy, financial markets and public policy. He was previously the economics

commentator at Barron's and has also written for the Financial Times, Bloomberg View and The Economist.

He's the co-author of Trade Wars, Our Class Wars, Our Rising Inequality Distorts the Global Economy and Threatens International Peace.

And we'll discuss his recent article at Politico, Trump's tariffs may not do what he thinks.

Then finally, as Trump and Vance insult and abandon Europe and NATO, we'll examine plans

...