President Donald Trump announced an experimental tariff for more than 180 commercial partners in the United States last week.

He described them as a “mutual tariff” against countries that impose heavy duties on American imports, which aim to balance a global trade equation that has long argued that it is balanced against his country.

The President was martyred with an unbalanced American trade to justify his argument. In fact, the United States has The largest commercial deficit In the world, in 2023, import costs amounted to $ 1.1 trillion.

However, some of its identification goals are the low -population islands that barely trade with the United States and constitute the little economic challenge to the world’s largest economy.

However, others from the countries that the United States have a trade surplus – raises questions about the Trump administration formula to calculate the tariffs, even if they say that dozens of countries are lining up to negotiate with Washington to reduce duties on its goods.

So what is the tariff form that the Trump team uses? What are some of the most difficult goals? Can negotiations help these countries and other regions?

How did Trump calculated mutual definitions?

When Trump announced the customs tariff, a plan that lists the percentage of “mutual tariffs” for each country and lands next to the definitions that these countries and regions claimed were imposed on American imports.

In fact, he claimed that he was nice and imposed a tariff that was half, in many cases, from the definitions that he said the targeted countries were imposed on American goods.

However, in fact, the formula used by the Trump administration to calculate what it says is the mutual tariff has nothing to do with the definitions imposed by other countries in the United States at all.

Instead, to determine the average customs tariff for a country, the administration divided the commercial deficit twice the value of the total imports from that country and hit the resulting number by 100 to obtain a percentage value.

Commercial deficit occurs when the country’s imports are more than its exports, while the excess indicates when exports are higher than imports.

For example, the US trade deficit with China in 2024 was $ 295 billion, and the total imports from China were 439 billion dollars. Divide the deficit on imports 0.67 revenues, and this half is 0.34. Trump imposed a 34 percent mutual tariff on China. The equation is not actually the percentage of tariff imposed by China on American products.

The Trump administration has not yet followed this formula uniformly – if it did so, there should not be a tariff imposed on countries and regions that have a trade surplus.

Here are some of the most strange targets in Trump:

The islands that have a few people, a little trade:

I heard McDonald’s island and islands

Trump struck the Australian region of the Herd and McDonald Islands, about 1700 km (1056 miles) from Antarctica and 4000 km (2485 miles) from Perth, with a 10 % tariff.

These islands are not inhabited by people, but instead by seals, birds and other birds.

The World Bank data shows that in 2022, imported products in the United States were $ 1.4 million from the islands. Most of these products were not named “electronics and machinery”. In 2024, the United States did not trade at all with the region, according to American census data.

Australian leaders, including the Minister of Commerce Don Farrell, speculated that Trump has made a mistake by mistake. Farrell told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation on April 4: “The poor old penguins, I do not know what they did with Trump, but I look, I think it is the indicator, to be honest with you, that this was an urgent process,” Farrell told the Australian Broadcasting Foundation on April 4.

But Trump’s assistants insist that this was not a mistake.

Trade Minister Howard Lootnick told CBS News on Sunday that the islands were subjected to tariffs so that Trump’s other identification goals are not tried to bypass their tariff by exporting their products to the United States through remote islands such as Head and McDonald. “If you leave anything outside the list, the countries that are trying to arbitrate America mainly go through these countries,” said Lootnick.

Norfolk Island

Trump also slapped a 29 percent tariff on another Australian region, Norfolk Island.

The region is located in the South Pacific, about 1,600 km (990 miles) northeast of Sydney, with a population of about 2000. World Bank data shows that the goods imported from the United States worth $ 273,000 in 2022 of the region. Most of these goods are classified as “chemicals”.

In 2024, the United States had a $ 100,000 trade deficit with Norfolk.

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albaniz said: “I am not completely sure that the island of Norfolk, in relation to it, is a commercial competitor with the giant economy of the United States, but this only appears and represents the fact that there is no place on the face of the earth in safe from this,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albaniz.

Cocos Island

Cocos or the Kiling Islands is another Australian region in the Indian Ocean with a 10 percent tariff.

The island, which included 544 people, was a $ 1.5 million trade surplus with the United States in 2024.

Christmas Island

Another Australian region in the Indian Ocean – home to 1,692 people – faces a 10 percent American tariff.

In 2024, the region had a $ 400,000 trade surplus with the United States. A quarter of the island’s exports go to the United States, where it sends hinting plates and vehicles – chemicals used to make nylon and dyes – and broadcasting equipment, according to the economic complexity Observatory.

Tucleus

New Zealand lands in the South Pacific are exposed to a 10 percent tariff by the United States.

In 2024, Tokelau had a $ 100,000 trade surplus with the United States, where products were issued worth $ 200,000. The total population of these coral islands is 2,600, according to the global population review.

reunion

Trump Rionone, a small section from the French abroad in the Indian Ocean, was accused, with a tariff of 37 percent, according to the drawing of the White House on April 2. The island is about 9000 km (5600 miles) from France.

The total population is 882,000, according to the latest international population review data. The United States had a trade deficit of $ 32.2 million with reunification in 2024.

British Indian Ocean lands

Trump struck British external lands by 10 percent of the customs tariff – although the only real trading center is a military base that the United States considers among its strategic foothold in the Indian Ocean.

The region, a group of many islands, has no permanent population. However, there is a joint military base for the United States and the United Kingdom on its largest island, Diego Garcia. About 4000 people, most of whom are military personnel, live in this rule.

The United States had a trade deficit of $ 5 million with the region in 2024, which issued products worth $ 500,000 for the country last year.

Like many of these small islands, the large countries of the United States have a trade surplus with customs tariffs – challenge the formula used to justify the fees.

Countries in the United States are a trade surplus with

Australia

The United States imposed a 10 percent tariff on Australia, saying that Canberra is receiving a 10 percent tariff.

Australia is a strange goal because the United States does not have a trade deficit with the country, a variable located in the Customs tariff account. In 2024, it enjoyed a $ 17.9 billion trade surplus with Australia, according to US census data.

In 2023, 3.57 percent of Australian exports went to the United States. In response to the definitions of Australia, Albanez said: “The tariff of management has no basis in logic and contradicts the basis of the partnership of our countries.”

UK

Trump struck the UK with a 10 percent tariff as a mutual step.

The United States also does not have a trade deficit with the United Kingdom, instead, it had a trade surplus of about $ 12 billion.

In 2023, approximately 24 percent of UK’s exports went to the United States.

Holland

Trump struck the Netherlands, along with other countries in the European Union, with a 20 percent tariff. However, the United States has no trade deficit with the country. Indeed, in 2024, she had a surplus of about $ 56 billion.

The vaccines are the export of the Netherlands to the United States.

Belgium

As part of the European Union, Belgium faces a 20 percent American tariff.

In 2024, the United States had about $ 6.3 billion of trade surplus with Belgium.

Brazil

Brazil faces a 10 percent tariff from the United States, despite its trade deficit of $ 7.4 billion in 2024.

The United States is the second largest Brazilian export market after it represented 10.4 percent of its exports.

Are negotiations important at all?

On Sunday, Treasury Secretary Scott Besent told NBC to the press More than 50 countries I arrived in the United States to negotiate the definitions.

However, it is unclear what these talks will be because Trump’s definitions are not mutual – unlike the demands of the United States – and in many cases, instead on its commercial impotence with those countries. Even countries with a trade surplus have not left safely.

In many ways, experts say, all of this confirms what is going on around the customs tariff – and what is not about it.

The goal of declaring Trump’s tariff was not to show the sporting accuracy, but that was the offer of power.

He pointed out that the definitions aim to bring countries to the negotiating table to discuss the broader American economic concerns. “Now if this is actually what will happen as a result still to be seen.”

It is also not clear whether the United States is open to negotiations. While the billionaire close to Elon Musk expressed his hopes “Hot Zero Place” Between the United States and Europe, the Minister of Commerce, Howard Lottenic, said the definitions Here to stay.

Ultimately, KWALRAMANI said, Trump’s modified goal is to care for the United States and create jobs. He said: “I do not think that the customs tariff policy aims to achieve one goal, but instead it was a silver idea in Trump’s head.”

“Maybe somewhat, it will stimulate the industry, but it will not restore the jobs that ended 35 years ago,” said Kiwalmani.

He said what you will do is to reduce the total trade. “If Trump wants to see this as a decrease in deficit, fair enough.”