Good morning. In this edition:

• 🚫 China begins restricting access to critical minerals
• 🍺 It’s tough out there for craft breweries
• 📊 Harvard vs. Trump admin poll results

Ready, Set, Go: Today’s news should be a ~4.52-minute read (1,202 words).

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“If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.”

–Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862)

Beijing has reportedly started implementing export restrictions on a range of critical rare earth elements in response to the Trump administration’s escalating tariffs on China, which rose to an upper limit of 245% for some products this week.

First things first: Rare earth metals are a group of 17 metallic elements that share a somewhat misleading name. While the elements aren’t rare in terms of their abundance in the Earth's crust, they’re often difficult to extract from the ground and process into usable products.

• Rare earth metals are considered crucial ingredients in a wide range of technologies, including computer chips, EV batteries/motors, radar systems, fighter jets, solar panels, smartphone touchscreens, submarines, missiles, and wind turbines.

US firms can’t easily replace China

The Chinese government holds a near-monopoly over the supply of global rare earths production and processing, meaning its latest restrictions could pose a serious threat to various US industries, per a new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS).

• China currently controls ~70% of the world’s rare earth production—including 99.9% of all dysprosium, used by chip giant Nvidia to create capacitors—in addition to 90% of global rare earth refining.
• On the other hand, the US has a single operational mine in California which produces ~15% of global rare earths, but relies mainly on Chinese firms for refinement.
• The US would be incapable of filling that gap if China completely shut down rare earth element exports for an extended period, per the CSIS report.

In other tariff news: California state leaders filed a federal lawsuit yesterday seeking to halt the Trump admin’s recent sweeping tariffs on US trading partners, arguing it was illegal for Trump to use certain emergency powers to impose them.

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When it comes to Community Notes, TikTok is taking a page from other social giants and showing up fashionably late to the party.

TikTok is testing a new feature called Footnotes, which allows users to add additional context to other people's videos with the aim of helping viewers better understand the reliability of content (similar to existing features on X, Facebook, and Insta).

Like a scholarly citation, but trendy

After a user submits a Footnote for consideration, the app’s algorithm uses a bridge-based ranking system to decide whether or not the Footnote should be ranked as “helpful” or not.

• For a Footnote to be considered “helpful,” the note's context has to be widely agreed upon, with extra weight given to “people who usually have different opinions.”
• Once a helpful Footnote is published on a video, the broader TikTok community can also vote on the note's helpfulness for others to see.

Not just anyone can chime in. US users can apply to be a Footnotes contributor if they’re 18+ years old, have been on the platform for 6+ months, and have no recent history of violating TikTok’s community guidelines.

Big picture: TikTok’s Footnotes comes as the app is facing an uncertain future in the US. As it currently stands, ByteDance must divest from TikTok’s US operations by June 19 to avoid a nationwide ban—though similar deadlines have been postponed twice already by President Trump, who says a potential sale to US owners is still on the table.

Keg stand: The craft beer industry was upside-down in 2024, according to the Brewers Association's annual industry production report published this week.

• Craft brewers produced 23.1 million barrels of beer last year, a 4.0% decrease from 2023, marking the largest drop in industry history outside the pandemic.
• The number of small, independent breweries operating in the US decreased for the first time in nearly 20 years, with 501 closures compared to 434 openings.

Why is the industry in the tank? The numbers represent a maturing and highly competitive marketplace, not a nascent one marked by high-growth, according to the association. And the 2025 outlook isn’t much better, as tariffs on equipment, kegs, aluminum cans, and ingredients like hops and grain are projected to hit small brewers especially hard.

One bright spot: Craft beer’s retail dollar value last year rose to an estimated $28.9 billion, a 3% increase over the previous year. The report attributes this to pricing adjustments (*cough* price increases *cough*) and steady on-site sales performance.

Zoom out: Those with neckbeards are increasingly turning in craft beer cans for hard liquor and High Noons. The overall US beer market saw a production decline in 2024, while the spirits industry experienced a production increase. Revenue from pre-mixed cocktails and spirits-based ready-to-drink cocktails grew YoY, with the segment now accounting for 18% of the total market, up from 8% three years ago.

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A growing number of US diners are ditching endless breadsticks in favor of buttery, made-from-scratch rolls.

Texas Roadhouse was the biggest casual dining chain in America last year, leapfrogging Olive Garden, who had occupied the top spot since 2018, per new data from research firm Technomic.

The steakhouse chain’s recent success stands out from the rest of the industry. While foot traffic for full service restaurants declined by 0.2% in 2024, Texas Roadhouse saw a 7.2% increase in visitors.

The recipe: Analysts say the Texas Roadhouse’s recent boom can largely be attributed to its unique dining experience, its focus on local talent, and the value it provides steak-hungry customers despite a recent rise in beef prices (due to corporate deals negotiated in advance).

BUSINESS & MARKETS

• 📊 US markets fell across the board (S&P: -2.2%; Dow: -1.7%; Nasdaq: -3.1%). | Retail sales rose 1.4% in March as consumers boosted spending ahead of tariffs; the figure was in-line with analysts' forecasts and the highest monthly increase since January 2023.
• 🏦 JPMorgan Chase sued more customers who allegedly used an “infinite money glitch” to steal cash from ATMs. | Big banks are benefitting from market volatility; the six largest US banks generated $16.3 billion in stock trading revenue in Q1, up 33% from a year earlier.
• 📈 Temu and Shein are planning to raise prices following President Trump's move to close the "de minimis" exemption.

SPORTS, MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT

in partnership with Kalshi

• 🏆 Comedian Nate Bargatze will host the 2025 Emmy Awards. | The 2025 Tribeca Film Festival (June 4-15) lineup was revealed; it includes 118 feature films from filmmakers across 36 countries.
• 📰 Time published its annual list of the world’s 100 Most Influential People.
• 🏥 Harvey Winstein’s lawyers have requested he be moved to a New York City hospital instead of prison for the duration of his #MeToo rape retrial.

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SCIENCE, SPACE & EMERGING TECH

• 🏥 Radiation from CT scans could eventually account for ~5% of all new cancer diagnoses annually, per a new study from UC San Francisco.
• 🐷 A first-of-its-kind clinical trial to test whether livers from a gene-edited pig can treat humans with sudden liver failure was approved by the FDA.
• 🌎 Early Earth (~4.55 billion years ago) had the right conditions to form water without relying on outside asteroids, per a new study; the results challenge existing theories about water’s origin on Earth.

US, WORLD & POLITICS

in partnership with Particle

• 🏳️‍⚧️ The UK Supreme Court unanimously ruled that a woman is defined by biological sex at birth under a 2010 equalities law; the ruling excludes transgender women from the legal definition of a woman under the 2010 law. | The Trump admin sued Maine for not complying with the federal government’s push to ban trans athletes from women’s sports.
• 🎓 The Trump admin has reportedly asked the IRS to start the process of revoking Harvard University’s tax-exempt status.
• 🧑‍⚖️ A federal judge said he found probable cause to hold Trump admin officials in criminal contempt for willfully disregarding an order barring the removal of Venezuelan migrants from the US.

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👆 National Geographic is currently hosting its Earth Month photo challenge to celebrate our planet’s diversity ahead of Earth Day on April 22; check out some of the top submissions.

🤔 Did You Know? Disney was the first movie studio to formally create and use storyboards. Animator and writer Webb Smith introduced the technique in the early 1930s to help streamline film production and reduce creative differences or miscommunications throughout the process. By the end of the decade, many other film studios were starting to use storyboards.

📰 Worth a Read: Crows may grasp basic geometry

🖱️ Clickbait: America's hottest neighborhoods in 2025

Yesterday we covered how the Trump admin froze ~$2.3 billion worth of federal grants and contracts to Harvard and threatened to revoke its tax-exempt status after the school rejected a list of government demands related to claims of antisemitism and ideological capture.

❓ Our question to you: Which of the following parties do you more strongly support in this situation?

• The Trump administration: 27%
• Harvard University: 65%
• Unsure/other: 8%

Click here to read some of the most thoughtful longform responses.

+Note on sample size: We received 2,175 votes and 203 longform responses.

🥹 When Texas resident Doug Ruch discovered he had 18 months to live, he decided to dedicate the rest of his life to one mission: volunteering and helping the homeless in all 50 states.

🎸 Britain’s youngest Elvis impersonator, 12-year-old Cooper Worthington, has been invited to perform at Presley’s Graceland home in Memphis. The preteen is deciding between Elvis’s iconic Pink Cadillac outfit, the gold blazer, the GI Blues outfit, and the Jailhouse Rock outfit.

🐘 A herd of Elephants at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park jumped into action to protect their young during Monday’s earthquake. See the footage.

Which four countries make up the United Kingdom?

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1. England
2. Scotland
3. Wales
4. Northern Ireland