Jeff Stein from the Washington Post is out with an article saying that there were numerous formula to calculate the reciprocal tariff levels. The other ones were said to be more sophisticated. Although a can be confirmed precisely the one that train picked and similarities to ideas proposed by Peter Navarro.

Adam posted yesterday that the formula basically took the imports from the country and divided by the number of exports from the US. Then they halved that amount.

They did not take into consideration number of different factors like the US does not grow coffee beans or bananas (sans perhaps in Hawaii). Nor did it take into consideration the service surplus. That is just scatching the surface.

Trump announced that he would impose a 46% tariff on Vietnam which suggests that Vietnam had a near 90% tariff on US goods.

The 2025 National Trade Estimate (NTE), released on March 31 by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), reports that Vietnam’s average most-favored nation (MFN) applied tariff rate was 9.4 percent in 2023, including:

• 17.1 percent for agricultural products; and
• 8.1 percent for non-agricultural products.

The report also highlights that, although most US exports to Vietnam face tariffs of 15 percent or less, consumer-oriented food and agricultural products still encounter higher rates.

This article was written by Greg Michalowski at www.forexlive.com.