US: Trump handpicks tariff formula, makes final decision only three hours before official announcement

After Donald Trump became president of the United States, the administration's economic staff set about the daunting task of determining tariff rates for dozens of countries in order to fulfil his campaign promise to erect ‘reciprocal’ trade barriers, according to the Washington Post. After weeks of work, aides from several government agencies developed a list of options that covered a wide range of trade practices. However, Trump personally chose a formula based on two simple variables. It's not clear who came up with the option, but it bears some striking similarities to the approach published by Navarro, a hard-line economic adviser during Trump's first administration, sources said. The crude calculation was ridiculed by economists on Wednesday when markets fell sharply after the tariff measures were published. The report also said that after late-night discussions on Tuesday, Trump didn't decide on a final plan until around 1 p.m. on Wednesday - less than three hours after his Rose Garden announcement.