Tariffs deception 2
Tariffs deception 2
Exports/imports ratio shows how unfair trade is between two countries. How unfair a country is overall to its trading partners is shown by the trade surplus as a percentage of GDP. This is a number USA should also consider. Although it does not affect trade with USA, it shows which countries are unfair to USA because they are generally unfair to all their trading partners.
Most of the the countries that are unfair towards USA, are not generally unfair to their trading partners. If a country is not generally unfair in its trading practices, it can correct unfairness to USA by correcting unfairness of others towards them. If a country is generally following unfair trade practices, it should stop doing it. That includes all countries, not only USA.
Let's look at the countries that have considerable surpluses with USA; China 353 bil, Mexico 108 bil, Vietnam 91 bil, Germany 70 bil, Japan 60 bil, Ireland 60 bil, Canada 50 bil, Malaysia 41 bil, Taiwan 40 bil, Switzerland 40 bil, Italy 39 bil, Thailand 35 bil, India 33 bil, South Korea 29 bil, Russia 23 bil, France 20 bil, Indonesa 18 bil. Some of them are generally unfair in their trading while others are not.
This will have to be determined by their overall trade balances as percentages of their GDP; Ireland 9,90 %, Switzerland 7,66%, Germany 5,90%, Vietnam 5,84%, Japan 3,58%, Malaysia 3,01%, Russia 2,48%, South Korea 2,07%, China 1,42%, Thailand 1,36%, Italy 0,51%, Indonesia -0,14%, Mexico -0.32%, Canada -0.62%, France -0.75 %, India -0.91%. Some are positive (surpluses) and some are negative (deficits).
Indonesia, Mexico, Canada, France, India have overall deficits. This means that their trading partners are unfair to them. Italy's is slightly above zero. So it is only slightly unfair to its trading partners. The worst cases, most unfair to trading partners are Ireland, Switzerland, Germany and Vietnam. Vietnam is a poor country while the rest are wealthy countries.
Vietnam has a high surplus with USA (90 bil) and trade relation is very unfair 0,108. It is a poor country though and it had a war a few decades ago, where USA was involved. So trade deficit and unfair exports/imports ratio can be viewed as some type of USA aid to Vietnam, a way USA is assisting them. Germany has the largest trade surplus in the world and considerably high as percentage of GDP (5,90%).
Germany's close allies also have high surpluses as percentage of GDP; Norway 17,79%, Denmark 10,93%, Netherlands 10,10%, Switzerland 7,66%, Sweden 6,75%. Germany is the "leader" in a group of countries that treat their trading partners unfairly. Germany is a bigger problem than China. China may have the largest deficit with USA but overall its surplus as a percentage of GDP is much lower than Germany's, 1,42%.
Canada is USA's largest trading partner but there are other countries that have higher surpluses. Germany's trade surplus is larger than Canada's, 70 bil and 50 bil respectively. Also exports/imports ratio is more unfair, 0,482 and 0,860. Germany is a much bigger problem than Canada. Germany is not like Vietnam. It is a rich country that has the highest trade surplus in the world.
Ireland also has higher surplus (with USA) than Canada and a even more unfair exports/imports ratio 0,187. It is one of the richest countries in Europe. So although Trump is generally moving towards the right direction, we believe that he should have dealt with Germany and Ireland before Canada. Because these are in EU which it is a customs union, tariffs should have been imposed on EU before Canada and perhaps even before Mexico.
Trade with Germany, Ireland, Italy, France is more unfair than with Mexico. Also EU's total deficit (166 bil) is larger than Mexico's (-108 bil). What they should do in Germany, Ireland, Italy, France is discuss with USA ways to reduce surplus from their side, deficit from USA's side. They must do that immediately. Otherwise all EU countries will have consequences because of them.
There are two ways to be less unfair to USA. Countries that are generally unfair to all their trading partners should stop doing it. Countries that are not generally unfair to their trading partners, should look into their trade balances and find the trading partners that are unfair to them. They can be less unfair to USA by not allowing others to be unfair to them.
Macron made some silly statements. Trudeau also made silly comments and retaliated with tariffs. Both countries have trade deficits. They are small as a percentages of GDP, Canada's 0,62% and France's 0,72%. Nevertheless, they have trade deficits. They are on the "same boat", same side with USA, only their deficit is smaller as percentage of GDP.
Judging by their statements and their actions regarding this matter, Macron and Trudeau are totally ignorant people who should have never been heads of states. They know nothing. They should have known better. They are not economists but they are heads of states. They should have learned about these important things long before they became heads of states.
They should have been informed correctly by advisors that are economists. Either they were not informed at all or they were not informed correctly. In any case, they are not suitable for the positions they hold, if they can not choose good advisors or do not bother to get informed about so important matters.They need to be replaced the soonest possible.
Instead of being unfair to USA, they should take a good look at their trade balance and not allow other countries being unfair to them. They should fix their deficits with other countries and their surplus with USA. Their problem is not USA as they erroneously put it but other countries with which they have trade deficits. Their goal is to fix overall trade balance, without being unfair to USA or other countries. The way to fix it is by fixing it with the countries where trade deficit is big.
Even Estonia's Kallas and Greece's Mitsotakis made some silly comments regarding USA's tariffs. They should fix Estonia's and Greece's trade deficits which are 2.08% and 6.32% respectively. Kallas was Estonia's prime minister and currently has some position in EU. Nobody really cares what position is that because EU will change dramatically very soon. Estonia may not be with Celtic and Germanic countries, if Italy does not make a rational decision.
Greece is definitely going to be with Greco-Thraco-Illyrian countries, in Eastern European Group 4, not with Celtic and Germanic countries. Mitsotakis is the most ignorant and silly of all, a total moron. Greece would have been 6,32% richer if it did not have such a large trade deficit. That country is completely ruined by prime ministers and ministers like Mitsotakis. If he was not a total moron, he would have been a big supporter of Trump's tariffs. Greece has a much bigger trade deficit problem than USA.