Crypto News: Brace for copper tariffs

Good morning. Copper becomes the latest pawn in the tariff tussle. Wall Street bankers strike it rich. And why hunting down those Easter eggs may be harder this year. Listen to the day's top stories.

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US tariffs on copper imports may be coming within weeks, months earlier than Donald Trump's original deadline for a decision, according to people familiar. He's previously threatened a duty of 25% on one of the world's most important metals—and it's hurting American factories already. The price of copper traded in New York jumped to a record high. Keep on top of the latest with our tariff tracker.

Copper Levies May Come Within Weeks

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Adding to global tensions, a plan for CK Hutchison to sell two Panama ports to a BlackRock-led group is said to be moving ahead as scheduled, despite Chinese fury over the transaction. It's a win for Donald Trump, who has repeatedly threatened to take over the Panama Canal and falsely claimed that China ultimately operates the waterway. Here's why Beijing's so mad about it.

The group chat flap escalated. A lawsuit accused five members of Trump's cabinet of violating US laws meant to safeguard government records by using messaging platform Signal to communicate. "We made a mistake," national security adviser Michael Waltz admitted. Meanwhile, Trump conceded that Russia's Vladimir Putin may be dragging his feet on a ceasefire agreement with Ukraine.

Better news back on Wall Street where the bonus payout pool surged to a record last year, pushing up the average annual bonus by almost a third to $244,700. (Pocket change for this guy.) New York's in line for a huge tax windfall, which may help as officials begged for more funding for the transit system.

Republican leaders said they're close to agreeing on a plan to extend Trump's 2017 tax cuts, as Congress looks to approve an economic package by the end of May. House Speaker Mike Johnson said the Senate is "coming around" to the idea of lifting the debt ceiling by $4 trillion as part of the tax legislation. The rush is justified. Fresh estimates show the US could breach the limit as early as mid-July without action.

Deep Dive: Counting Cocoa

Golden chocolate Easter bunnies pictured in Berlin. Photographer: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images Europe

Easter eggs and golden bunnies aren't getting any cheaper. Why? The cocoa market has been rattled by an unprecedented shortage.

So hedge funds and chocolatiers are resorting to an old-school method to get ahead—counting the number of pods on cocoa trees in the main growing areas of West Africa.
Take Eddie Arthur at a company called Foresto. He travels from farm to farm, monitors flowers that can eventually grow into football-sized pods and tracks how dry or wet the ground is.
His count plays a key role in estimating global supplies and spotting crop-disease outbreaks. And that could decide whether it's a good or bad time to buy.
Reminder: MrBeast makes more money from selling chocolate than making viral videos.

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