Journalist and author Jameseims Suroyeki called on Trump’s administration’s methodology on Thursday to calculate her new “reciprocal” tariffs, claiming the numbers are based on the wrong formula. In a series of tweets, Suroyei argues that instead of measuring the real tariffs and non-tariff barriers, the administration simply shares the US trade deficit with each country according to the total value of imports from that country.
“So we have a trade deficit of $ 17.9 billion with Indonesia. His export to us is $ 28 billion. $ 17.9/$ 28 = 64%, which Trump claims to be Indonesia’s tariff rate. What extraordinary stupidity is this,” the author’s wisdom wrote.
He further noted that the administration ignores US surplus in service trade and only factoring in goods in calculating alleged tariff rates imposed by foreign nations. This, he argues, leads to completely inaccurate claims – as in South Korea a 50% tariff for US exports, or the European Union imposing a 39% tariff, none of them are true.
Adding controversy, Suroyeki noted that Indonesia’s coffee tariffs were used as a 32% tariff justification for Indonesian coffee imports to the United States – although the United States exported no coffee to Indonesia. “He literally does not understand the concept of a comparative advantage,” Twitter Surviki, a former financial columnist for a newouperker, referring to President Donald Trump.
A white house with a return
Meanwhile, White House Deputy Press Deputy Press Desai dismissed, claiming that the cruel was incorrect and that the administration “literally” calculated tariff rates by measuring the real tariffs and trade barriers of each country.
“No, we literally calculated the tariff and no tariff barriers,” he tweeted as he shared the screenshot of the formula – the one he claimed to support his claim.
“When you return the Greek symbols, what is that formula? Trade deficit/import – exactly what I said it was,” Suroyeki replied.
According to Suroyeki, this lack of methodology explains why Trump’s tariff rates are imposed on Latin America countries are lower – because the United States has smaller trade deficits with them – while the rates imposed on Asian countries are significantly higher due to larger trade deficits.
“This is just a function of the formula they used,” he tweeted.
