After months of teasing that he would finally unveil his sweeping tariff regime on the “Liberation Day” of April 2, President Donald Trump made good on his threat, announcing a baseline minimum of 10% tariffs on all imports into America with zero exceptions. The so-called “worst offenders” will be subject to an additional tariff margin calculated by the Council of Economic Advisers.

While the White House is implementing the tariffs under the legal justification that our trade deficit is a national emergency, the administration claims that Trump is demonstrating benevolence by making the additional tariff margin on the “worst offenders” equivalent to just 50% of the reciprocal tariff levied on our exports into the offending countries. This margin, according to senior officials, is based on the notion that the very existence of a trade deficit must mean that a partner with a trade surplus is engaging in unfair trade practices. Because nontariff barriers, such as environmental regulations or bans on genetically modified organisms, cannot be easily quantified, the final tariff amounts levied on some “worst offenders” may be dramatically larger than the actual effective tariff rate of a given country.