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With all the buzz surrounding Trump’s tariffs — you know, the levies that are causing chaos in global trade and potentially raising iPhone prices — one burning question remains: Did the Trump administration rely on AI to calculate these tariffs?
It would be quite unprecedented. Trump’s “Reciprocal Tariffs” table, while still in flux, could turn out to be a pivotal document of the decade. However, the numbers on the table seem suspect.
Without delving into the nitty-gritty of tariffs for each country, the crux of the matter is that these tariffs aren’t truly reciprocal, despite Trump’s claims. The White House seems to have used a simplistic formula based on the trade deficit with a country, total imports from that country, and some division. Notably absent are actual tariffs in this equation, potentially overlooking existing tariffs imposed by other countries on U.S. imports.
Then there’s the curious inclusion of territories with no human populations in the tariff calculations, sparking a flood of penguin memes across the internet.
Questioning the Math
The lingering question is: How much critical thought went into devising these tariffs if they’re simply derived from a formula applied to territories that may not warrant tariffs?
While Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick asserts that USTR economists meticulously crafted these tariffs, some experts dismiss this, labeling the numbers as nonsensical and devoid of any real methodology.
Interestingly, if you ask AI models like ChatGPT to calculate similar tariffs, you’d arrive at a strikingly similar formula to what the White House employed. Ouch.
Uncertain Future
The tariff figures could serve as a starting point for future negotiations, as Eric Trump suggested. Whether hastily curated by AI or not, these numbers might soon undergo revisions in ongoing trade talks.
If indeed an AI was involved in crafting these tariffs, it would showcase a new level of incompetence within the Trump administration. The implications are unsettling, especially considering past blunders like using Signal chat for military plans.
While it’s challenging to definitively prove the use of AI in tariff calculations, warning signs are evident. The idea of delegating crucial decisions to AI raises concerns, and one can only speculate on what other tasks the White House might assign to automated systems.
