‘Economists have been flabbergasted’ at how White House calculated tariffs • FRANCE 24 English

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced sweeping new tariffs on imports to the United States from countries right across the globe. “Some economists have figured out how these tariffs were calculated by the White House and its team,” said FRANCE 24’s Washington DC correspondent Fraser Jackson. “These economists have been flabbergasted at how cumbersome these equations are, saying the US took the trade deficit that it has with a given country and divided it by the imports from that country, which is a very clunky way of doing things and not as surgical as you would expect.”

🔔 Subscribe to France 24 now: https://f24.my/YTen
🔴 LIVE – Watch FRANCE 24 English 24/7 here: https://f24.my/YTliveEN

🌍 Read the latest International News and Top Stories: https://www.france24.com/en/

Like us on Facebook: https://f24.my/FBen
Follow us on X (Twitter): https://f24.my/Xen
Browse the news in pictures on Instagram: https://f24.my/IGen
Discover our TikTok videos: https://f24.my/TKen
Get the latest top stories on Telegram: https://f24.my/TGen

35 comments

  2. The US has huge trade deficits with China, EU, Mexico, Canada, S Korea, Vietnam, India, etc……and has for decades. No more. Time to play fair for everyone.

  5. how exactly trump expects smaller countries to import the exact same amount as US imports from them? If US is importing more is because there is market for it. What's wroooooong here siiiiiir

  6. Don’t forget that a lot of big corporations in US sourced out their products to China to increase profits and this is one reason manufacturing went down in that country. You can’t blame other countries for what these greedy companies did.

  7. So these "reciprocal" tariffs are based not on tariffs but trade deficits. Trump using Trump math again, maybe that's how he bankrupted casinos

  9. If you want LESS of something you TAX IT! that is the fundamental idea here, to get LESS imports into the US. With the proper USA business climate it won't be adverse domestically in the long term.

  12. Remember when all of the corporations were drooling over the vast chinese market. Didn't pan out that way america os the market why else would everbody be crying so much remember customer is always right. And yes we know we will pay more!!!

  13. The United States consumes more than it produces and the situation is decades old. The US consumes materiel that they themselves can't produce and penalizing your suppliers for sending it to the US instead of somewhere else is pointless.

  15. Why do people think that getting a trade deal with Trump has any meaning?

    He broke HIS OWN trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. A deal he negotiated and signed. He keeps calling it an awful deal. This is what the US is dealing with; a man who doesn't remember which deals he signed.

  17. In short, they are imposing tariffs on the countries that sell them the things they need the most (i.e., that they import the most). Brilliant.

  20. Nothing will change unless he does something like this.
    The EU would keep with their market controls/obstructions/regulations to protect their markets, forever, otherwise.
    Now they are getting their own treatment, and are waking up.

  26. Looking at the weighted averages it looks like a lot of the numbers on Trump’s chart are actually wrong. In fact many aren’t even tariffs at all.
    What to call a group of malicious idiots? A noodledom? A flock. Oooh, I know: Americans.

  29. all tariffed countries should sell US national debts and buy US assets such as real estates, trump can stop complaining about deficits.

  30. Trump wants to bring back sneaker manufacturing from Vietnam with the 41% tariffs.
    I am sure americans are looking forward to the $3 per hour jobs.
    Sneakers will go up in prices.

  32. We should not capitulate to this lunatic's demands and not retaliate.
    His desired goals would be to deindustrialize the entire world so that the us is the sole exporter like when after the devastation of world war 2 was the era where us manufacturing could support disproportionate income and profit margins because there was no alternative.

    We don't want a return to that world, I'd rather see their economy tank in a trade war with the entire planet they can't beat.

  34. Keep in mind that until a month ago most Republicans thought OTHER COUNTRIES paid american tariffs. Half of em probably still do

Comments are closed.