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The enemy within![Post from James Surowiecki @JamesSurowiecki
Just figured out where these fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us. So, we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is.
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Post from JamesSurowiecki - 1h
Replying to @JamesSurowiecki It's also important to understand that the tariff rates that foreign countries are supposedly charging us are just made-up numbers. South Korea, with which we have a trade agreement, is not charging a 50% tariff on U.S. exports. Nor is the EU charging a 39% tariff. = oy o e e e e pers WM 0 ] Jotina W 7% | oo W e ] [ 30} Norsy W sov ] ewam W 50, | [ 172 ] [ovan ] oéan WM 0% | Papan W % | [ 1o% | s W > | [ 10% ] [ 0% ] [0 | [rgentina Mo W0 | owitzerand W 1% | finioncsia W eiv. | Jowaemas WM 07 | oy W00 | Jronoras W 100, B 0% ] s ] [ o ] foisia W 557 ) orat ] [ i ] foerbia | fsingapore W 10% | e W o ] [ 32 ] [ 10 [0} Jcoeanore WMo B 0o | Posratia W 0% | | ose. ] 6:22 PM - Apr 2, 2025 - 384K Views](https://files.sfba.social/media_attachments/files/114/271/917/102/360/182/original/602acb6b6e44cd1f.png "Post from James Surowiecki @JamesSurowiecki
Just figured out where these fake tariff rates come from. They didn't actually calculate tariff rates + non-tariff barriers, as they say they did. Instead, for every country, they just took our trade deficit with that country and divided it by the country's exports to us. So, we have a $17.9 billion trade deficit with Indonesia. Its exports to us are $28 billion. $17.9/$28 = 64%, which Trump claims is the tariff rate Indonesia charges us. What extraordinary nonsense this is.
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Post from JamesSurowiecki - 1h
Replying to @JamesSurowiecki It's also important to understand that the tariff rates that foreign countries are supposedly charging us are just made-up numbers. South Korea, with which we have a trade agreement, is not charging a 50% tariff on U.S. exports. Nor is the EU charging a 39% tariff. = oy o e e e e pers WM 0 ] Jotina W 7% | oo W e ] [ 30} Norsy W sov ] ewam W 50, | [ 172 ] [ovan ] oéan WM 0% | Papan W % | [ 1o% | s W > | [ 10% ] [ 0% ] [0 | [rgentina Mo W0 | owitzerand W 1% | finioncsia W eiv. | Jowaemas WM 07 | oy W00 | Jronoras W 100, B 0% ] s ] [ o ] foisia W 557 ) orat ] [ i ] foerbia | fsingapore W 10% | e W o ] [ 32 ] [ 10 [0} Jcoeanore WMo B 0o | Posratia W 0% | | ose. ] 6:22 PM - Apr 2, 2025 - 384K Views")
@skykiss It’s scary to have a govt that can’t do economic math. 
Keep in mind the figures claimed by Trump to be tariffs imposed on the US by other countries have now been widely debunked as fabrications.
It's Trump. The falsehood of everything he says is a given.
@ginaintheburg @skykiss Every word Trump utters is bullshit, in the Frankfurtian sense — has has no concept of truth or falsehood and is completely indifferent to whether anything he says corresponds to reality. Sometimes, by chance, he says things that are true — but he has no intention of doing so.
@wollman
Sounds like a description of any LLM-based generative AI. Just wish this one wasn't actively malignant.
@ginaintheburg @skykiss
Edit: spelling - "with" to "wish"
@skykiss So because those countries choose to not buy American goods (price, quality, whatever reasons). Trump now wants to punish them?
This is basically the same as Elon suing advertisers for saying they won't advertise on xitter 
(DO1TTK) @coder4hire @skykiss he is also punishing regular US citizens, since the tariffs are ultimately added to foreign product's prices which have to be paid by the people
@skykiss
From the narcissist mouth :
“I am the only one who can fix this, if anything goes wrong, it’s because of the enemies, the media, or the people who didn’t listen.”
It reflects the classic narcissistic traits:
• Grandiosity (“only I can fix it”)
• Lying/manipulation (distorting reality)
• Blame-shifting (never taking responsibility)
@skykiss "take the number of people you kissed in high school, multiply that by how many cars you've owned in your life, divide that number by your age, and that's the number of times you need to hit yourself in the head with a hammer"
or
"take the amount of income tax paid last year, circle it with the red crayon, divide by 8 digits of _pi_, and that's your True Brain Age."
"multiple the number of trees in your yeard by vietnam's GDP, paint your garage that color."