What tariffs on Singapore, Brazil, and Vietnam can tell us about how Trump misunderstands the value of trade.
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ManythingsabouttheTrumpadministration’snewglobaltariffsmakelittlesense.
ThosetariffsareahugetaxincreaseonAmericanconsumersandbusinesses—onethatwillraisetaxesby$1.8trillion andlowerincomesbyover2percent,accordingtotheTaxFoundation’sanalysis.TheWhiteHouseseemstohaveusedsomefuzzymathincalculatingthosetariffrates.Trumpisalso,somehow,puttingtariffsoncountriesinhabitedsolelybypenguins—whichhas,infairness,spurredrobustgrowthinthemanufacturingofmemes.Itisallverysillyandlargelyself-destructive.
Yet,evenbythosestandards,someofthesenewtariffsare trulyoutlandish.Intheinterestofnarrowingdownthechaosintoafewbite-sizedmorsels,herearethethreecountry-specifictariffsthatmaketheleastsense,basedonwhatTrumphimselfhassaidaretheguidingprinciplesbehindhisnewtradepolicies.
SingaporeForweeks,theWhiteHousehasbeenusingthewordreciprocaltodescribethesenewtariffs.“Theychargeus,wechargethem,̶
