I find this quite astonishing. Users on X and journalists correctly point out that President Trump's administration has calculated the tariffs slapped on countries worldwide on the basis of the trade deficit in goods with each country (exports - imports) divided by imports from that country, which most economists seem to think is an odd way to calculate tariffs. Kush Desai, the White House deputy press secretary, attempts to reject and refute that by posting this tweet, saying "we literally calculated tariff and non tariff barriers". To prove that X users and journalists are wrong, Kush Desai shares this formula from the US Treasury website. But the Treasury's formula precisely shows that the tariffs are based on the trade deficit in goods divided by imports from each country. ∆τᵢ = (x-m) / (ε x φ x m) The formula includes "x" for exports and "m" for imports. But it also has "ε" for "price elasticity of import demand", set at 4 by the Treasury; multiplied by "φ" for "elasticity of import prices", set at 0.25 by the Treasury, which means they basically cancel out each other as 4 x 0.25 = 1. So, in effect, all you're left with in the formula is exports - imports / imports, which is what X users and journalists had accurately pointed out all along. x (exports) - m (imports) / ε (4) x φ (1/4) x m (imports) In case there is another calculation that we're missing, in which case the White House should point us to them, I fail to see how the White House has "calculated tariff and non-tariff barriers" for each country. Source: ustr.gov/issue-areas/recipro…