New U.S. tariffs stir global controversy and economic fears
Ten per cent tariffs on nearly all goods from almost every country in the world, imposed by the USA, have become a reality. However, as reported by the media, both the method of calculating these new tariffs and the choice of certain countries or regions raise doubts among experts.
Donald Trump announced on Wednesday, during "Liberation Day," that retaliatory tariffs would be imposed on the entire world: ten per cent on all imports and 25 per cent on foreign cars. He presented a list of countries and the tariff rates that will apply to them.
New U.S. tariffs. Doubts arise
The basic ten per cent tariffs on products from all countries came into effect on 5 April, and additional tariffs on goods from specific countries will be applied from 9 April.
However, as reported by the media, both the method of calculating these new tariffs and the choice of certain countries or regions raise doubts among experts.
On the list of countries are, for example, Australia's Heard and McDonald Islands, which are inhabited only by seals, penguins, and birds. The Falklands, inhabited by 3,200 people and about a million penguins, have been hit with 41 per cent tariffs on exports to the USA.
"Internet analysts have taken note of the similarities between the Trump administration's formula used to decide the 'Liberation Day' tariffs, and the same methods provided by ChatGPT if asked. Critics highlighted that ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots would provide very similar methods for setting tariff levels if they were asked to design a policy," reported the American "Newsweek."
"I think they asked ChatGPT to calculate the tariffs from other countries, which is why the tariffs make absolutely no sense," reports "Newsweek", citing a post from political commentator Steve Bonnell on platform X.
Economist James Surowiecki suggested that the tariffs might be the result of a simplified calculation resembling recommendations from popular AI chatbots. According to him, the formula involves dividing a country's trade deficit with the USA by its total exports to the USA. The White House has rejected these claims.
New U.S. tariffs
From 9 April, additional taxes on goods from 57 countries with a trade surplus with the United States are set to be implemented.
Among them are China and the European Union, which will be subject to additional tariffs of 34 per cent and 20 per cent, respectively, as well as Japan (24 per cent), South Korea (25 per cent), India (26 per cent), Vietnam (46 per cent), and Taiwan (32 per cent).
According to calculations by Yale Budget Lab, if all the new tariffs go into effect as announced by President Trump, the new average U.S. tariff rate will rise from 2.2 to over 22 per cent and will be the highest in over a century, significantly higher than tariffs in most countries around the world. As a result, tariffs will even surpass those introduced by the Smoot-Hawley Act of 1930 in response to the Great Depression. Those tariffs are considered by historians to be one of the reasons for the prolongation of the global crisis.
Trump's tariffs: market reaction
The announcement of tariffs by U.S. President Donald Trump on all imports to the United States caused sharp declines in the stock markets. The world's wealthiest people also felt the impact.
In two days, as calculated by CNBC on Saturday, Elon Musk's companies collectively lost about $30.9 (€28.1) billion in market value, Jeff Bezos' about $23.49 (€21.4) billion, and Mark Zuckerberg's about $27.34 (€24.9) billion. All of them, it should be noted, supported the Republican politician's campaign in various ways.
