Today, President Trump imposed hundreds of billions of dollars in tariffs on the countries of the world, that vary enormously from nation to nation. He calls them “reciprocal” tariffs, but they aren’t reciprocal at all. Trump increased tariffs even on friendly countries that had lower tariffs than we do, which is the very opposite of reciprocity. He imposed 10% tariffs even on countries that we have a trade surplus with, like Australia — which has fewer trade barriers than America does, and has some of the lowest tariffs on Earth.

Trump’s tariffs are kinder to countries that are mean to us than to countries that are kind to us. Protectionist Brazil, which has a left-wing president, was slapped with a mere 10% tariff, while America’s ally South Korea, which has a free-trade treaty with the U.S., was slapped with a harsh 25% tariff. Vietnam, 84% of whose people liked America, has been slapped with a harsh 46% tariff. That big tariff will undermine our foreign policy by making it harder to contain China by moving production from China to its neighbor, Vietnam. The European Union has been slapped with a 20% tariff, while friendly Switzerland has been hit by a 31% tariff and Japan has been hit by a 24% tariff. But Iran, which has repeatedly taken Americans hostage, received a tariff of only 10%.

As journalist Josh Barro explains, “The tariffs are not reciprocal — the ‘reciprocal’ rates are based on trade deficits, not tariffs (or non-tariff trade barriers), *and* then tariffs are even imposed on countries with which we have a trade surplus. News outlets should not accept the ‘reciprocal’ branding.”

The tariffs also are imposed on territories that have done nothing to the U.S.  “Trump’s tariffs target the uninhabited Heard and McDonald Islands,” notes Mike Baker of the New York Times. And Trump imposed a tariff increase on an island that contains a key U.S. military base. “He has introduced a 10% tariff on the British Indian Ocean Territory. The only inhabited island there is Diego Garcia, home to US service personnel. Trump has put a tariff on a U.S. military base.”