Many individuals have expressed confusion following the Trump administration’s introduction of new tariffs, which some describe as illogical.
On Wednesday, April 2, President Trump announced increased tariffs on nearly every country worldwide.
A minimum tariff of 10 percent has been applied universally, with specific countries facing higher rates, such as Vietnam, which now faces a 46 percent tariff on goods exported to the United States.
No region is exempt from these tariffs, not even those uninhabited by people.
After Trump’s announcement, there has been widespread curiosity regarding the methodology behind determining the specific tariff rates for each country.
One individual took to social media to present a theory on this matter.
James Surowiecki, a former writer for The New Yorker’s Financial Page, shared on Twitter: “Just figured out where these fake tariff rates come from.
“They didn’t actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country’s exports to us.
“So we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is.”
To clarify, a trade deficit occurs when a country’s imports surpass its exports.
Some have speculated that Trump relied on ChatGPT for these calculations.
A Twitter user suggested: “I think they asked ChatGPT to calculate the tariffs from other countries, which is why the tariffs make absolutely no f**king sense.
“They’re simply dividing the trade deficit we have with a country with our imports from that country, or using 10%, whichever is greater.”
This individual shared a screenshot of a conversation with a ChatGPT bot, in which they inquired: “What would be an easy way to calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even-playing fields when it comes to trade deficit? Set minimum at 10%.”
The AI bot responded: “To calculate tariffs that help level the playing field in terms of trade deficits (with a minimum tariff of 10%), you can use a proportional tariff formula based on the trade deficit with each country.
“The idea is to impose higher tariffs on countries with which the US has larger trade deficits, thus incentivizing more balanced trade.”
According to World Population Review, the United States has the largest trade deficits with China, Mexico, and Vietnam, all of which have been significantly affected by these tariffs.