Donald Trump's 'Reciprocal Tariffs' chart explained
By Sohani Goonetillake
Topic:Tariffs
11m ago11 minutes agoThu 3 Apr 2025 at 9:32am
Man in a suit speaking into a microphone behind a podium while holding up a chart
Donald Trump with his "Reciprocal Tariffs" chart in the Rose Garden. (Reuters: Carlos Barria)
Donald Trump has announced sweeping tariffs on products from more than 180 countries.
To aid his presentation in the White House's Rose Garden, the US president brandished a chart of tariffs on some of those countries — including Australia.
Mr Trump joked it was lucky he had a smaller chart to read from, claiming the full chart would not be able to withstand the wind.
"We didn't want to bring out the big charts because it had no chance of standing," he said.
"Fortunately we came up with a little smaller chart."
What did Trump's chart show?
Mr Trump held up the "Reciprocal Tariffs" chart mid-announcement at the White House.
The chart was divided into three columns, showing:
Countries
The tariffs the White House says they level on US goods
The "reciprocal tariffs" the US says it will impose on them
The chart's lowest "baseline" tariff figure is 10 per cent, but many countries are being hit with reciprocal tariffs that are much higher.
In those cases, the Trump administration seems to have come up with its numbers by dividing each trading partner's trade surplus with the US by the value of its exports to it.
Rabobank's Michael Every explains it like this:
"Indonesia runs a $US17.9 billion trade surplus with the US and exports $US28 billion to it, so 17.9/28 = the 64 per cent assumed Indonesian trade barrier, which the US offered a 'discount' on down to 32 per cent."
The chart said Australia levied a 10 per cent tariff on US imports. In reality, PM Anthony Albanese said, Australia does not impose any tariffs on US goods.
Here's the data on the president's chart, in an easy-to-read form. Australia is on page 2:
What are 'reciprocal tariffs'?
Mr Trump is labelling the tariffs he's imposing as "reciprocal", because he is raising what the US charges on imports to match or account for the levies he says other countries impose on American goods.
"Reciprocal — that means they do it to us and we do it to them," Mr Trump said.
"Can't get any simpler than that."
Mr Trump has called this "Liberation Day", arguing it will end years of the international community "ripping us off".
But Prime Minister Anthony Albanese disagrees.
"President Trump referred to reciprocal tariffs... a reciprocal tariff would be zero, not 10 per cent,"
Mr Albanese said.
"Australia will not be imposing reciprocal tariffs on the United States.
"Such a course of action would only push up prices for Australian consumers."
How did the US arrive at the 10 per cent figure for Australia?
You might be thinking, if Australia does not impose a tariff on US goods, why does the chart say 10 per cent?
It's worth noting that 10 per cent is the "minimum baseline tariff" Mr Trump has imposed.
If you look closely at the chart, in smaller text under "Tariffs Charged to the U.S.A" reads "Including Currency Manipulation and Trade Barriers".
Zoomed in sign with text reading 'including currency manipulation and trade barriers'
Trump and his advisors may think non-tariff trade barriers are worse than actual tariffs. (Reuters: Carlos Barria)
It is not explicitly clear what the Trump administration's rationale for arriving at 10 per cent is.
However, the ABC understands Mr Trump and his advisers may have decided that non-tariff trade barriers, including biosecurity restrictions like Australia's, are worse for the US than actual tariffs.
"We have made it very clear to the United States that we will not compromise on biosecurity," Mr Albanese said.
The Trump administration could also potentially see the 10 per cent Goods and Services Tax (GST) as a non-tariff trade barrier.
GST is imposed on most domestically produced goods, as well as imported goods.
Tariffs are designed to raise the price of imported goods and services to discourage their consumption, but if GST is applied for both domestic and imported goods, treating it like a tariff is redundant.
Another aspect of the chart to make note of is that the last column, which lists the tariffs being imposed by the US, is labelled as "discounted".
Mr Trump claims the tariffs the US is imposing are "discounted" because he is being "very kind" by charging other countries approximately half of the levies they impose on US goods, by his administration's calculations.
The full tariff chart is much longer
The chart Mr Trump held was by no means the full list of countries that will be affected by the administration's sweeping tariffs.
The official White House X account posted a thread that was four posts long to show more of the countries that are affected by his announcement.
Canada and Mexico, two of the US's biggest trading partners, were not listed, but have already faced separate tariffs related to what Mr Trump says are concerns about migration and the importation of the drug fentanyl.
Trump credits another chart for saving his life
This is not the first time the US president has used charts to aid his presentation.
Mr Trump credited a chart with saving his life when a gunman tried to shoot him at an election rally in Pennsylvania last year.
On that occasion he turned to describe a chart featuring immigration statistics just as shots rang out and a bullet grazed his ear.
A man speaking at a podium on the far right is in focus while a blurry chart takes up most of the space
Mr Trump had turned to point to a chart when shots rang out at his campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. (AP: Evan Vucci)
At his acceptance speech for the Republican nomination for president, Mr Trump pointed to the chart and said: "That was the chart that saved my life."
"Without that chart, I would not be here today," he later added.
Posted11m ago11 minutes agoThu 3 Apr 2025 at 9:32am
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