Trump, Tariffs and the Rust Belt

From Our Own Correspondent

BBC

News, News Commentary

4.4 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 12 April 2025

⏱️ 28 minutes

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Summary

Kate Adie presents stories from the USA, Myanmar, The Dominican Republic, Afghanistan and the Greek island of Syros President Trump’s decision to impose huge tariffs across the world drew ire from Wall Street financiers this week - and even members of his own Republican party. But what do his supporters in small-town America think? Mike Wendling travelled to Delta, Ohio, in America's rust belt, where locals have other things on their mind.

In Myanmar the military junta has restricted foreign rescue teams’ access to areas damaged by the recent earthquake - not to mention international media. After entering the country undercover, Yogita Limaye reports from the city of Mandalay, close to the earthquake’s epicentre.

The Dominican Republic announced three days of national mourning this week, after the roof of a popular nightclub collapsed, killing more than two hundred people. Will Grant visited the scene in the capital Santo Domingo, where an investigation is now under way as to what caused the collapse.

Since returning to power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have steadily increased restrictions on the country’s citizens and the introduction of a huge CCTV network in the capital Kabul has alarmed human rights groups. The Taliban says it is to combat crime, but Mahjooba Nowrouzi says there is unease over what else might be under surveillance.

The battle for dominance in the electric car market is in full swing, but the EV evolution has been a long time in the making, as Sara Wheeler discovered when she stumbled across one of the world’s first mass-produced models on the Greek island of Syros.

Series producer: Serena Tarling Production Coordinators: Katie Morrison & Sophie Hill Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, Podcasts.
0:05.0	Hello. Today we go undercover in Myanmar, where volunteers have been digging with their bare hands to find earthquake survivors.
0:13.9	In Afghanistan, the Taliban says its new CCTV system is for tackling crime, but what else is under scrutiny?
0:27.7	We're on the ground in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, at the scene of this week's nightclub disaster.
0:28.9	And finally, how the volatile oil market and rising pollution of the 1970s inspired one of
0:36.0	the world's first electric cars built in a factory on a sleepy Greek
0:40.8	island. But first to the United States, where Donald Trump's decision to impose huge tariffs
0:47.4	across the world, caused stock markets to plummet this week. To the relief of many, Mr. Trump
0:53.4	instituted a 90-day pause on many of the
0:56.2	proposed new taxes, though sizable tariffs remain on countries like China. The prospect of a global
1:03.3	trade war has drawn ire from Wall Street financiers, as well as members of the President's own
1:08.9	Republican Party. But what do his supporters in small-town America think?
1:14.1	Mike Wendling has been to Delta, Ohio, in the heart of America's Rust Belt.
1:19.6	By 7.30, I had already missed the morning rush at the barn restaurant.
1:24.1	The farmers had been and gone, but the place was still packed with those who didn't have cows to milk.
1:29.3	I awkwardly weaved between the counter and the dozen or so tables, bearing questions rather than coffee.
1:35.1	Would anybody like to talk about tariffs?
1:37.8	This is Trump country.
1:39.1	More than two-thirds of people here voted for the president,
1:41.6	so I wasn't surprised by much of what I heard about the plan
1:44.9	that has upended the global economic order over the last week. Yes, people told me it might be
1:50.6	painful. Yes, stock markets might go down. No, they weren't too concerned. A waitress pointed
	...

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