Good morning. Today is National Shakespeare Day, because while we don’t know exactly when ol’ Willy was born in April 1564, the 23rd seems like a pretty good bet.
People are encouraged to celebrate the legendary playwright by talking like Shakespeare for a day. Here are a few tips:
Instead of saying “it,” simply use the letter “t” (’tis, I’ll do’t, ’twould).
Make your verbs sing by adding “eth” to the end.
When you want to talk smack about someone, say their brain is “as dry as the remainder biscuit after a voyage.”
In the middle of a conversation, abruptly peel off and recite a monologue.
—Holly Van Leuven, Matty Merritt, Sam Klebanov, Adam Epstein, Neal Freyman
Markets: Stocks bounced back from Monday’s bludgeoning on hopes that the US could soon ease trade tensions with China and other countries. 3M, the company whose Command Strips covered your dorm room walls, surged after it beat Wall Street estimates and said it was keeping its 2025 guidance despite tariffs.
Markets Sponsored by quip
quip Ultra removes 15x more plaque than regular brushes. Think with your mouth and just brush. Ultra handles the rest.
Yesterday, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a plan to phase out eight FDA-approved artificial dyes used in food and medication by the end of 2026, leaving major food companies to find natural alternatives.
This represents Kennedy’s first major push to make US policy align with his MAHA (“Make America Healthy Again”) movement.
Dyeing for change
Data suggests that over 36,000 American food products contain Red 40, one of the eight dyes RFK Jr. is seeking to eliminate. Food companies have resisted prior efforts to go natural, saying the dyes are harmless and replacing them would be expensive for consumers. But both blue and red states think it’s bad to infuse unnatural color into everything:
Currently, 36 food dyes have FDA approval. Nine of them are artificial and made with petroleum (yum?).
Only eight of the nine fake ones are on the chopping block, since the Biden administration already got the ball rolling on eliminating Red Dye No. 3 in January.
Feds play catch-up. California banned Red No. 3 in 2023, and West Virginia signed a law that will take effect in 2028 banning seven of the FDA-approved artificial dyes. Meanwhile, all artificial dyes will be removed from school lunch programs in West Virginia under state law starting this August; California will do the same as of 2028. Twenty-six other states are considering similar measures.
Why? While no research has found artificial food dyes cause cancer in humans, some has found them to cause cancer in rats, while other studies have linked the colorants to behavioral problems in children.
A Tale of Two Trixes: In 2016, consumers complained when General Mills replaced the dyes in its rabbit-endorsed breakfast cereal with natural alternatives until it brought the old recipe back. One customer at the time lauded the return, saying she “liked the way the artificial colors and high-fructose corn syrup look and taste,” according to the Wall Street Journal.—HVL
If you’re in search of a more personalized, in-depth approach to whole body health, we’ve got a little MRI FYI to share.
Prenuvo offers whole body MRI scans that aren’t just a run-of-the-mill health check. They use proprietary MRI tech to capture diagnostic-quality images that screen 33 organs in less than an hour. (Yep, that quickly.)
Prenuvo also meticulously manages their locations and the interpretations of patients’ images with dedicated, in-house radiologists. In short: No outsourcing.
This offer is limited to Prenuvo’s US locations, excluding the Hercules Research Center in Watertown, MA, and is applicable only to whole body MRI scans. The discount cannot be used in conjunction with other promotions or discounts and holds no cash value. Participants must be 18 years or older.
🛻 Tesla rides the struggle bus. The automaker reported Q1 earnings yesterday, and they were ugly. Net income plummeted 71%, auto revenue fell 20% (worse than estimates), and the company paused its 2025 guidance amid a perfect storm of challenges: competition from China’s BYD and other EV-makers, supply chain issues, and political backlash against CEO Elon Musk. And while President Trump’s tariffs won’t hit Tesla as hard as other US automakers, the company admitted trade policies still “could have a meaningful impact on demand.” On a call with investors, Musk promised that starting next month, his “time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” and he will devote more of his time to Tesla.
The IMF slashed its US growth forecast. The US economy will grow much more slowly than anticipated this year in the wake of President Trump’s trade policies, the International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook yesterday. The UN financial agency cut its 2025 growth estimate to 1.8% from 2.7% in January, citing tariffs as the impetus. “The April 2 Rose Garden announcement forced us to jettison our projections,” the IMF’s chief economist wrote. “This on its own is a major negative shock to growth.” The group does not yet predict a recession, but it did raise the odds of one from 25% to 40%.
Bessent reportedly expects deescalation in US–China trade war. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believes the tariff tit for tat between the US and China is unsustainable and will lead to an imminent deescalation, he told investors at a closed-door JPMorgan Chase event yesterday, according to Bloomberg. Despite his optimism, Bessent reportedly also said that negotiations between the two countries have not yet started. Stocks immediately rose following the news of the secretary’s private comments.—AE
The tension on Madison Ave. is starting to spread. Meta’s online advertising business, which has benefited from Chinese companies buying ads, could lose $7 billion this year due to tariffs on China, according to a research note from MoffettNathanson.
The note explained that while the company doesn’t have any users in China, it did take in $18.35 billion in revenue from Chinese advertisers last year, accounting for 11% of its total sales.
A big chunk of that likely came from fast-fashion giants Shein and Temu, which have already cut down their US digital ad budgets.
Temu shelled out a daily average of 31% less for ads across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snap, X, and YouTube from March 31 to April 13 compared with the previous 30 days, per Sensor Tower’s estimates.
It’s not just Meta. Other tech companies like Google and Amazon are likely to be impacted. And US industries feeling the heat of high duties, like tourism, restaurants, and automotive, may also pull back on ad spending.
It couldn’t come at a worse time. Advertising has finally managed to find stable ground after the pandemic rocked the industry. And in a few weeks, major media companies will gather for “upfronts,” splashy events where they’ll attempt to woo ad buyers to commit millions of dollars amid massive uncertainty.—MM
Together With Chase for Business
Plan for succession, plan for success. For small businesses, embracing succession planning can help pave the way for seamless transition. Every company will eventually experience a transition or change in ownership, so why not prepare early? Chase for Business provides resources and financial guidance to support long-term goals and help you navigate the succession planning process with confidence.*
The most guarded secret of Japanese master chefs might be that their omakase now contains South Korean rice.
Japan has resorted to importing rice from its neighbor for the first time since 1999 amid a shortage, a South Korean official said this week.
Rice rescue
On top of being pricier due to tariffs, foreign rice is typically taboo for Japanese consumers, who prefer homegrown varieties of the grain that is central to the country’s national identity. But earlier this month, rice prices in Japan’s supermarkets more than doubled from a year before, making imported rice look attractive:
South Korean suppliers shipped 2 tons of rice to Japan this month, and 20 more are reportedly on the way—which sounds like a lot, but is a drop in the ocean for the rice-loving nation.
Last month, the Japanese government auctioned off 142,000 tons of rice from its strategic stockpile to ease the shortage.
Experts say the rice scarcity is due to record heat that hampered harvests in 2023. Meanwhile, demand swelled from a period of panic-buying during natural disaster warnings last summer and an influx of tourists eager to impress servers with their practiced pronunciation of “takikomi gohan.”
More overseas rice might be coming…as Japan is reportedly considering easing import restrictions on American rice and soybeans to appease President Trump.—SK
Florida hasn’t had this much of a falloff since the Magic lost Shaq to the Lakers. According to Redfin, Tampa had a net inflow (the number of people who move in vs. out) of 10,000 residents last year, down from 35,000 in 2023 and good for the single steepest drop of any major US metro area in 2024. Miami, Orlando, and Fort Lauderdale were also among the 10 biggest slowdowns.
The reason for the dropoff is clear, and it’s not because Carole Baskin’s Big Cat Rescue moved all of its tigers to Arkansas. An increase in natural disasters has not only made oceanside real estate perilous, but it’s also sent insurance premiums and HOA fees through the roof.
Some experts say this is just the market correcting itself after legions of remote workers descended on sunny Florida during the pandemic. But it could also be signs of a crisis: The Wall Street Journal reported that many of the state’s condo owners want to sell due to increased ownership costs—but suddenly there are far fewer interested buyers.—AE
OpenAI would be open to buying Chrome if Google is forced by a federal court to sell the web browser, the company’s ChatGPT head said yesterday.
60 Minutes’s executive producer, Bill Owens, quit the storied CBS News program, telling staff that he no longer felt like he had editorial independence as CBS parent company Paramount Global looks to settle a lawsuit filed by President Trump.
The FDA suspended milk quality tests in some dairy products due to reduced capacity stemming from federal workforce cuts, Reuters reported.
Roche, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, is investing $50 billion in US manufacturing to circumvent President Trump’s tariffs, the company said yesterday.
Rite Aid is preparing to sell itself in pieces ahead of a possible second bankruptcy, Bloomberg reported.
RECS
Reduce glare: These sunglasses protect your eyes when racking up miles.**
Enlighten: A big list of new museum exhibits to check out this spring.
This deal won’t last: Planning a trip soon? Grab this travel card to earn a generous bonus for your next getaway. This limited-time offer could be ending soon, so apply here.*
*A message from our sponsor. **This is a product recommendation from our writers. When you buy through this link, Morning Brew may earn a commission.
Word Search: Sometimes, even the rich and the famous get booked. In today’s Word Search, you’ll have to identify the celebrity mugshot.
Shakespeare trivia
In honor of World Shakespeare Day, here’s some Shakespeare trivia. We’ll give you a brief description of a film adapted from a Shakespeare play, and you have to name the movie.
Glen Powell and Sydney Sweeney first locked eyes in this rom-com loosely based on Much Ado About Nothing.
Amanda Bynes played Viola Hastings in this teen rom-com that a) was inspired by Twelfth Night and b) helped introduce Channing Tatum to the world. (2006)
This dark musical set in New York City is based on Romeo & Juliet. (1961, 2021)
Hamlet’s family drama served as the backdrop for this Pixar film in which Matthew Broderick was a voice actor. (1994)
Julia Stiles, Heath Ledger, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt starred in this high-school comedy based on The Taming of the Shrew. (1999)
SHARE THE BREW
Share Morning Brew with your friends, acquire free Brew swag, and then acquire more friends as a result of your fresh Brew swag.
We’re saying we’ll give you free stuff and more friends if you share a link. One link.
Today’s Word of the Day is: impetus, meaning “a force that encourages a particular action.” Thanks to Anne from Columbus, OH, for the suggestion. Submit another Word of the Day here.
The IMF slashed its US growth forecast. The US economy will grow much more slowly than anticipated this year in the wake of President Trump’s trade policies, the International Monetary Fund said in its World Economic Outlook yesterday. The UN financial agency cut its 2025 growth estimate to 1.8% from 2.7% in January, 
Bessent reportedly expects deescalation in US–China trade war. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent believes the tariff tit for tat between the US and China is unsustainable and will lead to an imminent deescalation, he told investors at a 
Reduce glare: These sunglasses 
