The current narrative seems to be that we are saved from economic ruin because Trump saw the falling bond market and generously limited most tariffs to only 10% for the countries he had previously threatened with various tariff percentages. Except for China, which is now subject to a 125% tariff. Mexican and Canadian tariffs remain untouched. This is supposed to be good news and proof that Trump has some minimal core of reason and conscience.
But I tried to do the math, and while I, like all Americans, am rejoicing about the lower price of penguin eggs, I think the tariffs actually increased today.
[Here ](https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/03/business/trumps-reciprocal-tariffs-countries-list-dg/index.html)is CNN's list of countries (minus Canada and Mexico, which again I don't think changed today) organized by amount imported by the US and Trump tariffs from last week. By my math, if you add up the countries with over a billion in US imports, the tariffs amount to about 560 billion dollars.
Now excel spreadsheet/ChatGPT it all out with a lowered tariff for everyone of 10%. But increase China to 125%. The result is over 700 billion dollars. And unlike some countries where we can go get their raw material from somewhere else, these include pretty sophisticated electronic items and industrial components no one else makes. And China holds a lot of US debt. And Xi can't exactly back down easily over this.
Maybe my math is wrong. But if not, why is today good news?
