I’m genuinely confused and hoping someone can honestly make sense of this.
[https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/13/trump-reciprocal-tariffs-news-conference.html](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/13/trump-reciprocal-tariffs-news-conference.html)
"They charge us a tax or tariff and we charge them," Trump said during a press event in the Oval Office.
According to the plan, the U.S. will consider non-tariff measures like VATs as unfair trade practices and respond with tariffs.
Here’s where I’m struggling.. VATs are a standard part of taxation in many countries worldwide. For example, if you buy something in France, you pay the VAT regardless of whether it's produced in France or imported from Italy. If you then export it to Spain, you don't pay the French VAT but instead pay the Spanish VAT.
So how is this an unfair trade practice? It’s literally designed to apply equally across borders.
From a market perspective, this has me wondering: How could this impact international trade relationships and, ultimately, the stock market? If these tariffs go through, are we looking at potential volatility in sectors heavily reliant on global supply chains? Could this trigger a reaction in European markets or even broader economic ripples?
People made a big deal about Biden's age, but this logic genuinely baffles me. Am I missing some key detail here? What is Trump trying to accomplish with this policy shift? Is there a hidden angle that I’m not seeing?
Edit: I found another article with value on this [here](https://marketminds123.blogspot.com/2025/02/trumps-latest-tariff-proposal-potential.html#more)