Did a man just crack the 'math' behind Trump's tariffs? Says the calculation is ‘extraordinary nonsense’

April 2, 2025, was declared Liberation Day by President Donald Trump—a momentous occasion where he unveiled sweeping tariffs aimed at foreign nations. In his dramatic announcement from the White House, Trump proclaimed, “April 2, 2025, will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America's destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to 'Make America Wealthy Again.’”

The tariffs, designed to protect American industries, imposed a minimum 10% duty on most imported goods, with some countries facing staggering rates—China at 54%, Vietnam at 46%, and the European Union at 20%. While the reasoning behind these customized figures remained vague, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) later released an official explanation.

According to the USTR, the tariffs were calculated based on a simple formula: each country’s trade surplus with the U.S. was divided by its total exports, and the result was halved to produce the final tariff rate. But as it turns out, this methodology might be more political theater than economic science.

A Twitter User Exposes the ‘Extraordinary Nonsense’

Enter James Surowiecki, a financial journalist and former writer for The New Yorker. After scrutinizing the numbers, he posted a thread on Twitter that left economists and policy analysts stunned.

“They didn’t actually calculate tariff rates and non-tariff barriers, as they claim. Instead, they just took our trade deficit with each country and divided it by that country’s exports to us,” Surowiecki explained.

He used Indonesia as an example:

• The U.S. has a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia.
• Indonesia exports $28 billion worth of goods to the U.S.
• Divide $17.9 billion by $28 billion, and you get…