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Official White House Photo / Flickr
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Trump’s Misleading Tariff Chart
As promised, President Donald Trump on April 2 announced "reciprocal" tariffs for imports coming from many countries. Standing in the White House Rose Garden, Trump held up a chart showing tariff rates various countries purportedly placed on U.S. exports and the rate the U.S. would now impose on imports from those countries.
“Reciprocal. That means they do it to us and we do it to them,” Trump said. “Very simple. Can’t get any simpler than that.”
But the chart didn't show tariff rates charged by other countries. As Deputy Director Robert Farley and Staff Writer D'Angelo Gore write, the rates -- such as 67% for China, 39% for the European Union or 90% for Vietnam -- are far higher than the average tariff rates published by the World Trade Organization. Because the U.S. is "very kind," Trump said, it would charge about half the rates listed on the White House chart for imports to the U.S.
The chart said it included “Currency Manipulation and Trade Barriers,” factors that are hard to quantify. But it turns out the tariff rates are actually the size of a country’s trade imbalance with the U.S. in goods, divided by how much America imports in goods from that nation.
Economists told Rob and D'Angelo that’s not a legitimate way to calculate reciprocal tariffs for countries.
“The Trump administration’s calculations are a fundamentally nonsensical way to calculate ‘reciprocal’ tariffs,” Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, said. “Absolutely none of the factors the White House purports to be looking at, like tariffs, non-tariff barriers, or other unfair practices, factor in to the tariff rate they calculate in any way. They are invented numbers that have zero relationship to real policies.”
On top of that, York said the tariffs "will not reduce the US trade deficit because tariffs, either through their effects on the US dollar or through retaliation, will also reduce US exports.”
In a fact sheet on its calculations, the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative cited a handful of academic studies. But when Rob and D'Angelo reached out to the authors of several of them, the experts balked at the Trump administration’s conclusions.
For more, read the full story: “Trump’s Misleading Tariff Chart.”
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In a March 30 interview, Trump told NBC News that he could potentially serve a third term, saying, “There are methods which you could do it.” We reached out to legal experts about that – and the idea that there’s a “loophole” in the use of the word "elected" in the 22nd Amendment, as the Daily Mail, a British tabloid, said. Under that theory, Trump could run as vice president with a proxy at the top of the ticket who would resign. The experts told us the loophole argument is “implausible” and “defeats the clear intent” of the amendment. Read more: “Legal Scholars Dispute Constitutional ‘Loophole’ for a Third Trump Term.”
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The Trump administration has invoked an 18th century law, the Alien Enemies Act, to summarily expel Venezuelan immigrants who it alleges are gang members. The law has been used three times in U.S. history: during the War of 1812, when British immigrants were required to move away from the coast; during World War I, when German immigrants faced restrictions on where they could work and live; and during World War II, when the government used internment camps for Japanese, German and Italian immigrants. Read more: “Q&A on the Alien Enemies Act and Tren de Aragua in the U.S.”
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April 2 is International Fact-Checking Day (yes, it is purposefully the day after April Fools' Day). To commemorate the day, we published an article filled with tips for readers on How to Combat Misinformation. As we said in the article, we can't fact-check everything, and more and more people get at least some news from social media, where there's plenty of false and misleading viral claims.
Our top four tips:
- Think before sharing. Be skeptical and think twice before you share that social media post.
- Consider the source. Who shared the claim? Do they have any partisan or financial conflicts? What qualifies them to write or speak about the subject?
- Evaluate the evidence. Does the person making the claim provide any evidence, such as links to articles, published research or other sources? How credible is the evidence provided?
- Consult the experts. A good place to start is Google, to find articles from trusted sources, or the search engines of FactCheck.org and other fact-checking websites.
We also created a video on these tips and more -- including how to spot AI-generated images, audio and video.
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Wrapping Up
Here's what else we've got for you this week:
- RFK Jr.’s Faulty Advice On Bird Flu: In recent news appearances, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has suggested allowing bird flu to spread in poultry flocks unchecked. Scientists say that’s risky because it gives the virus more opportunities to replicate, increasing the chance it could change to spread easily among humans.
- Trump’s Misleading Claim on Canadian Dairy Tariffs: To support his plan to increase tariffs, President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that the Canadian government charges U.S. farmers a 250% or 270% tariff on dairy products exported to Canada. That’s misleading. There are rates that high on the books, but they would only be charged if U.S. exports exceed predetermined tariff rate quotas, which the dairy exports don’t come close to meeting.
Y lo que publicamos en español (English versions are accessible in each story):
- Preguntas y respuestas sobre el precio de los huevos: El presidente Donald Trump hizo campaña en 2024 para reducir el precio de los huevos, que aumentó significativamente hacia el final del mandato de su predecesor, el expresidente Joe Biden. ¿Cuánto cuestan los huevos ahora? ¿Qué provocó su alza el año pasado? Aquí respondemos esas preguntas y más.
- Trump hace afirmaciones engañosas sobre el empleo: Tras la publicación del último informe de empleos el 7 de marzo, el presidente Donald Trump sugirió que su administración, en funciones desde el 20 de enero, es responsable de un significativo crecimiento laboral. El crecimiento en febrero fue estable, pero para respaldar sus afirmaciones, Trump hizo varias declaraciones engañosas sobre la economía que heredó.
- Los erróneos consejos de RFK Jr. sobre la gripe aviar: En recientes apariciones en la prensa, el secretario del Departamento de Salud y Servicios Humanos, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., ha sugerido dejar que la gripe aviar se propague sin control en las aves de corral. Los científicos afirman que esto es arriesgado porque le da al virus más oportunidades de replicarse, lo que aumenta la probabilidad de que se propague fácilmente entre los humanos.
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