NPR is reporting that Canada has announced retaliatory tariffs against the United States, matching U.S. tariffs "dollar for dollar." Canadian Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne said the country would apply tariffs of 15%, 25% and 50% on a variety of U.S. exports, including steel, dairy, appliances, agricultural equipment, pulp and paper, and electronics, starting Sept. 8. These countertariffs will affect nearly $20 billion worth of annual imports from the U.S. NPR's Stephan Bisaha noted that while the $20 billion in tariffed goods would not significantly impact the U.S. economy, Canada is likely to feel more strain. He added that if the trade war intensifies to include American cars and Canadian oil, the effect would be larger. The fluctuating tariffs have caused considerable uncertainty for U.S. businesses.
The Trump administration is planning to cancel 200,000 immigration visas nationwide, in what may be the largest revocation effort in U.S. history, according to an administration source familiar with the policy. State Department spokesperson Tommy Pigott said the agency is identifying and revoking visas held by immigrants who entered the U.S. as short-term visitors for tourism or business but then filed for asylum. This process is expected to occur on a rolling basis. NPR’s Sergio Martínez-Beltrán said many immigration attorneys view this move as performative, with one calling it "a completely empty effort" because overstaying a short-term visa is already illegal. Martínez-Beltrán explained the policy could lead to more arrests, noting the Trump administration arrested 50,000 immigrants last month, a monthly record in the 47th president's second term.
Country music legend Dolly Parton has died at the age of 80. Her death was confirmed by her nephew Bryan Seaver and her representatives. Parton earned dozens of top-10 country hits, including "9 to 5" and "Jolene," and had a theme park, Dollywood, named after her. She was also known for her charitable projects, such as the Imagination Library, which sends children a book a month from birth until age 5. President Donald J Trump announced that flags would be lowered to half-staff for the next week to honor Parton's death.
The Trump administration claimed to have found more than 250,000 noncitizens on voter rolls for Nevada and three other states. However, the Department of Homeland Security's communication with those states since then indicates the numbers may have been inflated. DHS acknowledged to Nevada officials that an initial figure of around 16,000 potential noncitizens on the state's voter list represented a preliminary maximum estimate rather than confirmed entries. The agency later provided a list of 185 voter ID numbers it was confident were nonvoters and said more than 14,000 Nevada voters still require additional review.
Extreme heat is affecting millions of Americans this week across the South-Central U.S. and into the Southwest. NPR’s senior climate editor, Sadie Babits, explained that the burning of fossil fuels is the main cause of climate change, which has led to an increase in both the frequency and intensity of heat waves. The number of heat waves in the U.S. has doubled since the 1980s. Babits noted that without human-caused climate change, extreme heat events like this summer's intense heat in Europe would have been nearly impossible, and scientists are increasingly linking extreme weather to climate change, with heat waves having the clearest connection.
NPR is also reporting on the Justice Department's initial stance in June to no longer require states to provide community-based care for people with disabilities, which has shaken the disability rights community. NPR correspondent Jonaki Mehta highlighted the story of Kaleigh Brendle, 23, who started a disability rights organization to push back against the Trump administration’s efforts to challenge the "integration mandate." Kaleigh, who is blind and has other disabilities, and her 27-year-old brother Cody, who is blind and has autism, benefit from Medicaid-funded community programs that allow disabled adults to live and receive care in their homes and communities. They worry that this could change.
In other news, Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified in a child-safety trial that a 2021 feature intended to help teens manage their time on the app saw less usage than expected. American cineplexes are set to earn more money this summer than in the last decade, but attendance is down, and fewer movies are playing in theaters. Additionally, two unvaccinated individuals in Pennsylvania have died after contracting measles, with the outbreak now reaching nearly 400 cases across multiple counties.