Looks fancy! What this means is you take our trade deficit with each country and divide it by the country's exports to us. For example, we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia, meaning we buy $17.9 billion more from them than they buy from us. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9 billion divided by $28 billion is 64%, which Trump says is their tariff on American imports. That's right, a trade deficit is a "tariff." Divide this in half and you get 32%, which is now our tariff on Indonesian goods.
Just to be clear, Indonesia does not have a 64% tariff on American goods. We buy more from them than they buy from us because we're a bigger market and have more money. It would be like me complaining that I have a "trade imbalance" with Publix, because I buy food from them, but they don't buy anything from me. That leads to a 100% trade imbalance, so by Trump's logic, I should impose a 50% tariff on anything I buy from Publix. This is why the tariff on goods from Lesotho (a small, very poor country in southern Africa) is 50%, because we buy some stuff from them, but they don't buy much from us.
There is also a tariff on goods from Heard Island, and the McDonald Islands, which are Australian territories, and are uninhabited by anyone other than penguins. Meanwhile, there are no tariffs on imports from Russia, Cuba, and North Korea.
If you're wondering where this formula came from, the source is "Grok," Elon Musk's AI platform.
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@whowasthatmaskedman i believe he is exercising his power to tariff. That's It. It is one of the few things he can do without congressional approval. For a sociopath, how heady must it be to know that what you choose to do can collapse the whole world order?
@Carla Sorry. I know its not really funny. But the idea that American economy can actually break the world is laughable. True, if America goes the rest of us will hit a speed bump, spill our coffee and wake the baby in the car seat. But the rest of us will find a work around. Its America that will be heading for something post apocalyptic. And a lot of the richest and best and brightest will be in the lifeboats.. Just to give you a preview. The makers of jaguar and Land Rover cars have just announced they are "pausing" shipments to the US. Expect a series of similar announcements soon..😷
@Carla Actually, the Constitution gives Congress the power to impose tariffs. The President can impose limited tariffs under various laws. These across the board, blanket tariffs are blatantly illegal.
@whowasthatmaskedman Because of the sheer size of the US economy, a depression here will be more than a "speed bump" for the rest of the world. The effects of the Great Depression were even worse in Europe and contributed to the rise of Hitler and Mussolini.
@LeopoldBloom We will have to disagree on that. Heres why. Look at everything America exports. Then everything America imports. You will find many crossovers, where Those imports can go to nations who currently buy from America. Particularly staples like food. And many more where American products are assembled from Chinese or Vietnamese components. A relatively simple fix. I am not saying it will be seamless. Just that the worst victims will be Americans themselves. A 330 million consumer market that is fairly mature can easily be replaced by the massive developing middle class markets of China and India.😷
@LeopoldBloom Yeah.. Nah... Even if they are repealed, trump is still in Office and America has proved itself an untrustworthy trading partner.. This Humpty Dumpty isnt going back together any time soon. The Chinese and others are moving fast to fill the cracks and offer sweet deals..😷
