President Donald Trump’s huge tariffs introduced on dozens of countries have been pitched as “reciprocal,” matching what different nations cost the United States greenback for greenback, even making an allowance for non-tariff obstacles like value-added taxes and different such measures. But the precise calculation the Trump administration used isn’t reciprocal in any respect. Matching nations’ tariffs greenback for greenback is an extremely tough job, involving poring over every nation’s tariff schedule and matching a fancy array of merchandise, every of which has a unique cost for any variants. Instead, the Trump administration used fairly a easy calculation: the nation’s commerce deficit divided by its exports to the United States instances 1/2. That’s it. #CNN #News
