The fact is that our tariffs aren't reciprocating those of our trading partners. Instead, they are calculated by a simple measure in which any country, even those that allow are products free entry, are penalized if they run a trade surplus versus us. (In some cases like the UK, we're subjecting them to 10% tariffs even when WE have a surplus.)
What happens with poor countries? Well, take Lesotho. Per capita income was $878 last year. What do we import from Lesotho? Textiles and diamonds. Because the average Lesothan is very poor, he's not buying much in the way of US goods nor can he.
Last year we bought $228 million of goods from Lesotho but sold them only $7 million worth. Because of this imbalance we are now levying a tariff of 50%.
Nothing Lesotho can do will change its inability to buy US goods. The only real impact of punitive tariffs will be to kill textile sales from there (which will probably go somewhere else) and jack up the price of diamonds to US buyers.
Tariffing Lesothan diamonds won't spur exports of American goods but will only serve to make diamonds more expensive to American businesses and shoppers.
The point is that the draconian way in which the White House created its tariff table will in many if not most cases fail to stimulate exports while also failing to encourage domestic replacements to imported goods.
We hear a lot about unfairness, and there certainly is a lot of that, but this shotgun approach WHICH DOES NOTHING TO ASSESS UNFAIR TRADE PRACTICES is going to take an unnecessary toll on US consumers.
It’s clear to me that the Trump team didn’t put a lot of thought into any details of trade policy. That wasn’t driven by laziness or incompetence. It was done this way because they expect every one of these tariffs to be negotiated downward individually on a case-by-case basis.
When I looked at the list of tariffs the WH released, the algorithm seemed to b to levy a tariff against countries who tariffed us. How much? Our tariff was at least 10%, going up to half of the tariff that country had on us.
Truth from a rabid leftist website? NONSENSE. ‘Nuff said.
America has lost its once very strong manufacturing status, jobs have been outsourced, and NONE of this has helped the American populace!
There are a lot of gaps in this article. I wonder if that's done on purpose. My BS meter is pinging about this article.
I thought we are just applying the same rates of tariffs on goods and then dividing it by two.
Ya gonna be alright Honey😱😂
On the other hand, after 4 years of ignoring economic issues during Biden's regime, the media is now suddenly oh so concerned about it.
They have reporters stationed at grocery stores and talking about prices going up.
They are trying their hardest to scare the people and cause panic 🙄
Axios = BS.
Axios- They are beyond extreme far-left.
Hopefully these numbers are meant to just be a starting point for negotiations. Each of the countries who think it’s unfair should make their case and be dealt with fairly as they make their case fairly and honestly.
A lot of countries have all sorts of red tape that makes it hard for American products to have a chance. It’s a waste of time to get into long lengthy debates with such countries who want to keep playing those games. Just keep it simple & straightforward.
For some countries who are striving to be good global citizens & treat their people right - we should be charitable.
Any country that has tariffs slapped on the U.S.A.’s butt needs tariffs slapped on theirs. I don’t care what the protesting, obnoxious and ignorant U.S. resident “protesters” say. America First. The Days of America the Suckers are over.
I agree with your points. It makes no sense to punish countries just because they export to us but don't happen to buy an equal amount back due to any of a myriad of factors. My understanding was that these were countries with high tariffs against us; if we are putting high tariffs on them first, how are they supposed to "fix" the situation? They can't lower tariffs they don't have. This really will cause an economic depression.
I've always been confident that Trump has good business sense and wouldn't do anything stupid like leftists imagine. But I'm left without comprehension now - is he really on some mad, deranged crusade to hammer countries unfairly with tariffs that will simply shut down international trade and cause a world depression? Or is this source misinformation?
Miami globalist puss, we don’t care about other countries economies. They can all go f themselves.
Waaaaaaaa! Have you considered that BlueSky site?
A country that imports very little from us, because either (1) things they could buy from us are too expensive for them with our much higher labor costs than theirs - so they buy from elsewhere, or (2) we do not make many things they need to import from us, should not be considered “a problem” for us.
Is it worse for New York that it buys produce from California (that it has a trade deficit with California). No. California has year-round advantages for growing produce that New York cannot duplicate and trying to would make growing lots of produce in New York very expensive, compared to what California produce costs. Should New York “tax” produce from California, to “stimulate” a “competitive” New York state produce industry? Why? Just to please the idea of rectifying a “trade deficit”, at what would be great expense for the people of New York? If New York was insane, yes, otherwise no.
That is why a good many of Trump’s tariffs on many individual countries make no sense at all. In some cases they will do nothing for any U.S. company and will simply decrease imports from a country who will sell their meager goods somewhere else.
Having a “trade deficit” with tiny Lesotho is not a material negative for the U.S. or anyone in the U.S., and even if Lesotho lowered tariffs on U.S. goods to zero, we would still have a trade deficit with them and just because of that deficit Trump would still be imposing a needless tariff on what meager goods we get from them (less than $500 million in 2024).
For the reasons you state. And because they are pitifully poor and we are not.
No tariffs on poor countries is the best form of aid we can give them.
Other, industrialized, wealthy, countries: Different story indeed. We should increase tariffs on them, not to instigate a trade war but to restore some kind of fair balance.
But if you look at it, what Trump is doing is not really that malicious. He is just introducing some sign of life into our negotiations with other countries vis a vis trade.
It is overdue, and it will help us re-industrialize. It also is not so drastic as the press would have us all (worldwide) believe.
It's a tactic, but Trump can't just come out and say that; if he did, it wouldn't be a tactic.
He did the next best thing to revealing his strategy by having the Sec of the Treasury come out yesterday on the WH lawn and say, "Don't retaliate!", meaning, we will mitigate, soften, retreat, give way.
The market? It's as it has always been: half market forces, half emotional forces.
Regardless, it will work out fine.
He imposed a 10% tariff on Singapore, which has no tariffs on US goods. Makes me wonder about the process.
Frankly, I couldn’t care less about other nations.
Why are you so consumed with other nations?