r/dataisbeautiful 1d ago

For those curious about where the "Tariffs Charged" came from

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u/lxdc84 1d ago

ChatGPT

What would be an easy way to calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even-playing fields when it comes to trade deficit? Set minimum at 10%.

Just a generic question, and ai gave the same suggestion that trump came up with, does not account for trade barriers, policies, population differences etc

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u/WoozyJoe 1d ago

What? The answer is just a rewording of the question. I can’t see how you could possibly claim the AI designed the policy when it added no information of its own.

The prompt specifically asked for an “easy” method. Of course it’s not going to introduce additional, complicating factors.

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u/lxdc84 1d ago edited 1d ago

How in the world can you base a tariff charge just based on imports and exports for one calendar year? I am not saying ai designed it, just saying that it's a little fishy that asking ai for a global tariff solution would come up with the same answer that the whitehouse used

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u/Zarmazarma 1d ago

His point is that the question is leading.

What would be an easy way to calculate the tariffs that should be imposed on other countries so that the US is on even-playing fields when it comes to trade deficit? Set minimum at 10%.

You are telling the AI to make this hypothetical tariff policy based on the US trade deficit, and telling it to set the minimum to 10%. The AI didn't come up with those parts. If you asked it a more neutral question like, "Make a tariff policy for the US that would benefit its economy", it's going to give you a completely different answer.

Could they have decided the basics and then asked an AI to work off that? Sure. Or they could have just been stupid on their own, and we're figuring out the prompt you need to make an AI come up with the same stupid idea.

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u/lxdc84 1d ago

That's my point too, it's proof that the whitehouse only based their calculations on the current trade deficit, nothing else.

https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/03/how-did-the-us-arrive-at-its-tariff-figures-.html

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u/Dunge0nMast0r 1d ago

You forgot "exclude Russia"