On July 31, Trump signed an executive order titled "Further Amendment of Reciprocal Tariff Rates" at the White House, which stipulates new "reciprocal tariff rates" for over 190 countries.

However, there are two points worth noting on this tariff list:

1. Why is China not mentioned on the tariff list?

2. On July 30, Trump had stated that he would impose a 50% tariff on Brazil, but why does the published list show only 10%?

To understand these two issues, we need to look into the historical context of these events.

The first question: Why is China not mentioned on the tariff list?

We saw a long list on the White House website, where Trump imposed tariffs of 10% to 15% on most countries, with Syria facing the highest tariff rate of 41%, followed by Laos and Myanmar with 40%.

In the countries or organizations we are paying attention to, we saw Japan and South Korea being charged 15% tariffs, as well as the EU being charged 15% tariffs. This list also explains in detail that if the current tariff rate of goods is lower than 15%, it will be increased to 15%, and if higher than 15%, no additional tariffs will be added.

【Executive Order from the White House Website Regarding Tariffs on Over 190 Countries】

But after carefully reviewing the entire list, we found a problem: China is not on this list, which means that Trump's recent tariff increase has excluded China.

We know that on July 28 to 29, China and the United States held the third round of economic and trade talks in Sweden, with the main issue being the tariff issue between China and the US.

Although there were significant differences between China and the US during this negotiation, both sides were generally working together to reach a trade agreement.

On July 30, during a press conference at the White House, when a reporter asked about China, Trump said happily, "There is hope of reaching a fair agreement."

【The Third Round of Economic and Trade Talks Between China and the United States in Sweden】

Trump said, "I think the negotiations will go very smoothly. We are in step. We are moving towards China, and we are cooperating well with China. I believe we will reach a very fair agreement with China."

Trump used a series of positive words to describe the results of the talks between China and the US and the relationship between the two countries. The Chinese side also gave a positive assessment of the results of the talks.

People's Daily commented that this meeting played a positive role in consolidating consensus and deepening mutual trust, further adding confidence for both sides to resolve trade disputes through equal dialogue and consultation.

Additionally, on July 31, U.S. Treasury Secretary Brian Deese said in an interview that he believed they had the ability to reach an agreement. There were still some technical details to be resolved between them. He believed it would be completed, but not 100% completed yet.

Although Deese did not reveal any details about the final agreement between China and the US to the media, combining Trump's and Deese's statements, it seems that the agreement between China and the US should be an equal agreement and will be formally reached soon.

Therefore, at this critical moment, Trump naturally would not announce new tariffs on China, as it could cause resentment from China and even disrupt the atmosphere of improving Sino-US relations.

The second question: Why did Trump threaten to impose a 50% tariff on Brazil, but in the end only imposed 10%?

On July 30, Trump threatened Brazil, saying that he would impose a 50% tariff on Brazil. Trump also signed an executive order titled "Responding to the 'Threat by the Brazilian Government' in the Following Way."

【Executive Order from the White House Website Regarding Tariffs on Brazil】

We found this executive order on the White House website, which mainly contains two contents:

First, Trump declared that the United States entered a national emergency to respond to the "threat by the Brazilian government."

Second, Trump declared that the United States modified the tariff rate on Brazil to respond to the "threat by the Brazilian government."

The first part mainly accuses the Brazilian Supreme Court of "abusing judicial power" against Brazil's former president, who is a good friend of Trump. This issue has been a political topic that Trump has been promoting since taking office.

【Trump and Former Brazilian President Bolsonaro】

The second part mainly introduces how the United States imposes tariffs on Brazil, mentioning that it will add an ad valorem tariff of 40% to goods imported from Brazil to the United States "in accordance with the law."

Thus, we have found the answer to this question. At that time, on July 30, the US had already imposed an initial 40% tariff on Brazil, which was an additional "punitive" tariff. When combined with the 10% in Trump's "reciprocal tariff" list, it totaled exactly 50%.

Although Trump did not mention China in this "reciprocal tariff" list, we still need to condemn Trump's behavior from the perspective of multilateralism and justice, as it is filled with hegemony and exploitation.

We hope that all oppressed countries can unite and jointly maintain multilateralism and jointly face the economic bullying of the United States.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7533419758406943251/

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