Bloomberg BloombergHow Trump’s Tariff Rates Were Set
President Trump said the new tariffs on U.S. trading partners were “reciprocal,” meant to reflect the trade barriers those countries place on American goods. He didn’t explain how the rates were calculated, but a clearer method appeared later on Wednesday.
According to analysts and later White House clarification, each country’s tariff rate was based on the U.S. trade deficit with that country, divided by the value of that country’s exports to the U.S. Trump then cut that number in half, saying he was being “kind.” -Newsweek