Understand the calculation used in Trump's "reciprocal" tariffs.
The tariff calculations took into account the US trade deficit with each country last year and the value of imports.
247 - US President Donald Trump revealed on Wednesday (2) the “reciprocal” trade tariffs that will be applied to all imports into the country.
The details of the measure were explained in a document released by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR), an agency linked to the White House. According to the report, the tariff calculation took into account the U.S. trade deficit with each country last year and the value of imports.
In the case of China, for example, the US recorded a deficit of US$295 billion in 2024, while American imports from the Asian country totaled US$438 billion.
Based on this relationship, dividing the first number by the second, the USTR calculated that American products face a trade barrier of approximately 68%. To determine the reciprocity tariff, this number was divided by two, resulting in a rate of 34% on Chinese products.
The minimum tariff, which includes Brazil, was defined based on the average trade deficit of the US with all countries in the world, which was 20%. From this index, the American government established the minimum rate of 10% for countries with which there is no deficit.
