He doesn’t even understand what a trade deficit is. He thinks it like a budget deficit. He (or someone on his staff) literally just asked ChatGPT to write him a tariff plan.
Then it simply subtracts their exports vs our imports, then divides that same number by their imports. Whatever number it spits out (negative) he flipped it to positive, cut it in half, and slapped it beside the country, excepting whatever special punitive number he decided to use instead in certain cases.
That’s why tiny and/or poor little countries get hit the hardest. Vietnam for example has 100 million people and the average monthly salary over there is like $600 USD a month. Then they make the stuff that we request from them (because of the big push made to get out of China, a lot of companies moved stuff to there) but because they literally can’t even afford to BUY our stuff, their little formula says “oh they have a 90% trade deficit with us, so 46% retaliation tariff”, and they get slapped with the highest tariffs.
If you don’t believe me all the proof you need is here
https://www.usatoday.com/story/grap...trump-calculation-countries/82878359007/Nothing in this formula accounts for any actual tariffs imposed on us or any other trade barriers.
This is the most hare-brained operation I’ve ever seen in my life, we’re all f***ed, and this “well I don’t own stocks but this will save my grand children” idiocy is a terrible argument. Every time we slide into a recession or depression, the job market is ruined. Your kids run much higher risks of not being able to keep or find work, and then your grandkids just starve.
Also need I remind you, being the economic powerhouse whom’s currency a large portion of the world uses as their reserve currency, by logic implies that you are probably in a deficit with most countries.
Also our export figures don’t account for services and intellectual property, and we are heavily a services based economy. Think of all the worldwide households using Netflix, Hulu, and Prime. Or Spotify. Or all the large overseas corporations using Microsoft and Amazon data centers, Microsoft’s corporate Windows/Office365/Antivirus licenses, etc.. Hell even Taylor Swift writing a new album being distributed globally via digital means, or someone in Europe watching a new Disney Avengers movie.
Just while we’re at it, on “bringing back manufacturing jobs”.. places are so hard up for labor that Desantis is trying to legalize overnight shifts for 14 year olds. We just don’t have the labor for it.
