00:00Are Trump's tariffs on the EU really reciprocal?
00:07This is what Donald Trump said when announcing new tariffs on the European Union.
00:11It's so pathetic. 39% we're going to charge them 20% so we're charging them essentially
00:18half.
00:19But we verified his claim the EU charges a 39% tariff on US goods and found it's a far
00:23cry from reality.
00:25Experts say EU tariffs imposed on the US lie on average between 2 and 5%.
00:30The European Commission says they stand at around 1%.
00:34So how did Trump achieve such a different figure?
00:36Economists told Euroverify the 39% tariff rate was calculated using a simple formula
00:42by dividing the US's trade surplus with the EU by the EU's exports to the US.
00:48In other words, it has nothing to do with tariffs.
00:55Trump's calculation methods have called into question the 20% tariffs the US plans to impose
01:13on Europe.
01:14A reciprocal tariff would suggest that you put a tariff on to the other country depending
01:18on how high its tariffs are on you.
01:22But in fact, this tariff is based on the size of the trade imbalance, which is not
01:26particularly closely related to the level of tariffs.
01:30The US administration published its methodology online on Wednesday.
01:35The 39% rate reflects tariffs as well as other so-called non-tariff factors, which it says
01:40hinder trade.
01:42These include intellectual property rules as well as environmental and digital regulations.
01:47Economists have been left puzzled by these figures.
01:50To my knowledge, no other country has ever used a formula anything like this to calculate
01:54the tariff levels.
01:55It's a completely new departure and it's taken everybody by surprise.
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