by Suzanne Nuyen

February 15, 2026

Good morning. This week, a federal judge ordered the return of Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador under the Alien Enemies Act, Israel charged two people on suspicion of using classified information to place bets about military operations on Polymarket, and four people began their journey to the International Space Station on the NASA Crew-12 mission.

A largely unregulated market

by Scott Horsley, chief economics correspondent

It seemed as if the modern-day loan sharks had sensed blood and were circling.

President Trump’s tariffs have been hard on many U.S. businesses. There’s the cost and unpredictability. There’s also the cash flow problem. Businesses have to pay tariffs up front, just to take possession of their imported products, before they can even make a sale.

A man in a red hoodie stands among cardboard boxes.

Cornell Watson for NPR

That was a familiar complaint by the time NPR retail correspondent Alina Selyukh and I met last fall with a group of small business owners from across the country – which consisted of importers, manufacturers and retailers.

What surprised us, though, was the barrage of phone calls, emails and text messages these businesses were getting from lenders pitching a solution. They offered quick cash to pay the tariff bills — but at a steep price. The come-ons were relentless, clogging inboxes and filling up voicemails.

Alina and I set out to learn more about this shadowy corner of the financial market that’s largely unregulated.

Many of these lenders are offering something called a “merchant cash advance,” a costly form of credit that’s been likened to a payday loan. The money is quick, convenient and expensive, with effective annual interest rates of 90% or more. Like a payday lender, the merchant cash advance provider has direct access to a borrower’s bank account and takes a cut of sales daily or weekly until the debt is repaid. And like a payday loan, the credit can be a trap, with borrowers often forced to take out multiple advances to repay the original loan.

The industry is not new. But with many businesses struggling to pay tariffs, it suddenly has a rich new target market.

We spoke to importers who’ve been targeted for cash advances, advocacy groups pressing for better disclosure, lawyers who've gone up against the lenders in court and regulators who've tried to impose guardrails. Rohit Chopra, who used to head the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, told NPR some of the lenders employ tactics that "would make a mobster blush."

We also tried to contact the people behind those aggressive phone calls and text messages. Most did not respond, although one did write back asking how we got his information. We also spoke with a lenders’ trade group that’s working to weed out the most predatory players in the industry.

Alina traveled to North Carolina to visit Joshua Esnard, an entrepreneur who just had his best year of sales ever, only to see the profits gobbled up by tariffs and the high-cost credit he used to pay them. Esnard considered the possibility of making his most popular shaver in the U.S. to avoid the tariffs. But only two of the 45 parts are available domestically, and he’d have to double the device’s price to switch.

Tariffs have been a money-maker for the federal government, generating about $30 billion a month in revenue. This story is a reminder that most of that tab is being paid by U.S. businesses. And in some cases, that bill comes with an extra exorbitant fee.

Check out more great reads from the NPR network you may have missed:

➡️ A flurry of free speech lawsuits mounted in the months following Charlie Kirk's assassination. David Rubin, an attorney at the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), says his organization is aware of at least 13 lawsuits concerning people who were fired over "Kirk-related speech." These cases reveal how Americans were investigated, fired and, in one case, arrested for their online reactions to Kirk's death.

➡️ As GLP-1 drugs get cheaper, it's become easier for people to get a prescription to maintain a normal weight. The practice is controversial, as with many issues concerning weight and weight management. But Dr. Betsy Dovec, who has prescribed the medication to normal-weight patients, says it's wrong to classify these patients as using the medication for purely "aesthetic" reasons. Here are the risks and benefits of using GLP-1 drugs to maintain a normal weight.

➡️ The kidnapping of Today show host Savannah Guthrie's mom, Nancy Guthrie, has put a spotlight on the excruciating uncertainty that thousands of families endure each year when their loved ones go missing. While experts see parallels between Nancy's abduction and other missing persons cases, there are many outliers, from the victim's age to her daughter's celebrity status. NPR breaks down the data here.

➡️ A growing number of Americans are ditching big tech, targeting companies that they believe are not doing enough to stand up against the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown. People are canceling their Netflix subscriptions in favor of DVDs, shopping locally instead of buying through Amazon and taking public transit instead of relying on ride share apps.

Newsletter continues after sponsor message

Pod club

Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Thanks for tuning in last week to the Alt.Latino episode about Bad Bunny's career and what it means for Puerto Rico and Latin music's role in America. Listener Mary Rudd said the episode was interesting to her, especially because her first exposure to Bad Bunny was during his appearance on Saturday Night Live.

Today, we’re listening to Throughline. In the episode, "The Man Who Took On The Klan," we travel back to 1871, when Ku Klux Klan violence in South Carolina got so bad that the governor sent a telegram to President Ulysses S. Grant, warning that his state was facing war. Grant sent him Amos Akerman, a former confederate soldier and slaveholder who became the U.S. government's most zealous warrior against the KKK. Listen to Akerman's story, or read the transcript of this episode.

How much did you know about this period of U.S. history? Listen to this episode and share your thoughts with us here. You could appear in next week's Sunday newsletter.

And on The Sunday Story from Up First, Gisèle Pelicot tells her story. In September 2024, Pelicot took the stand in an unprecedented mass rape trial in France. Police had found images and videos of her husband and dozens of men raping her while she was drugged and unconscious. Pelicot sits down with NPR's Michel Martin to discuss the pain of discovering what happened to her, the harm it did to her family and her decision to reject shame and speak up on behalf of sexual assault survivors.

Common thread

NPR

It's time for the Sunday Puzzle! For this week's on-air challenge, puzzle master Will Shortz will name three things. You must determine what they have in common. For example, TELEPHONE, SATURN and TREE STRUMP would have RINGS in common. Test your skills here. Check the page later to hear the answers, or catch them live on Weekend Edition at 8:41 a.m. ET.

This week's online challenge comes from Tom Streit of Crozet, Va. A man said to a friend: "I'm thinking of a 9-letter word that contains my name, Ian (I-A-N), embedded somewhere inside it. If you replace my 3-letter name with your 4-letter name, you'll get a familiar word in 10 letters." What are the two words, and what is the name of Ian's friend? Submit your answer here, and you could win a chance to play next Sunday's on-air puzzle.

Stream your local NPR station.

Visit NPR.org to find your local station stream.

This newsletter was edited by Treye Green.

Enjoying this newsletter? Forward to a friend! They can sign up here.

Looking for more great content? Check out all of our newsletter offerings — including Music, Politics, Health and more!

You received this message because you're subscribed to Up First emails. This email was sent by National Public Radio, Inc., 1111 North Capitol Street NE, Washington, DC 20002

Unsubscribe | Privacy Policy