4 ms·

I'd put my chips on the formula being $(LLM_OF_CHOICE), given the lack of attention paid to details like, say, uninhabited islands near the Antarctic. https://

I'd put my chips on the formula being $(LLM_OF_CHOICE), given the lack of attention paid to details like, say, uninhabited islands near the Antarctic. https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/critics-suspect-trumps-weird-tariff-math-came-from-chatbots/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/critics-suspect-...

iJohnDoe 2y ago
I think this is really interesting and would be fun to find out what really happened. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/04/revealed-how-trump-tariffs-slugged-norfolk-island-and-uninhabited-heard-and-mcdonald-islands https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/04/revea... I have three theories, based this article. 1. The administration used an LLM on certain data and it incorrectly conflated the countries. 2. Certain companies listed regions of export to avoid customs, duties, or for other reasons and it now indirectly got exposed. The article alludes to this without saying so? 3. The administration listed what seemed like inconsequential regions for the purpose of preventing Australia, for this example, of just saying it was exported from Norfolk Islands to dodge tariffs. Although, this is giving the administration way too much credit and if they are reading this don’t steal this as reason. :-)
- ttyprintk 2y ago
  Lesotho, a small mountain within South Africa punished with a sudden 50% tariff, disproves #3 is evidence of an intelligent carve out.
- owyn 2y ago
  All the "weird" countries on the list have internet domain names .nf .tk .gi .io The "penguin island" has the domain .hm So the conclusion is that the intern failed geography and did not realize that those aren't countries.
EasyMark 2y ago
I don't think it's LLM, not everthing is AI, just because that's the hot topic of the day. This forumla is too simple, it's essentially 0.5 * (their_portion_of_trade_deficit / total_trade_deficit_with_country) % . It's not complex at all and that formula fits all the % calculated by Trump's board of "liberation" too closely to not be essetially what he and his cronies came up with. Likely one of the DOGGie boys
- monkeyfun 2y ago
  But how do you explain an uninhabited semi-independent (as i understand it) island with no trade with the US getting higher tariffs than Australia, the country it's broadly part of?
  - ethbr1 2y ago
    Because the intent of the tariffs is to prompt currency exchange rate moves and/or defense deal reevaluation. Everyone is reacting to this like it's a mystery. The architect literally wrote down the why: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43594549 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43594549
  - mikrotikker 2y ago
    That island did actually trade with the US as Australia did a couple mil of trade through it for some reason

iJohnDoe 2y ago

I think this is really interesting and would be fun to find out what really happened. https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/04/revealed-how-trump-tariffs-slugged-norfolk-island-and-uninhabited-heard-and-mcdonald-islands https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2025/apr/04/revea... I have three theories, based this article. 1. The administration used an LLM on certain data and it incorrectly conflated the countries. 2. Certain companies listed regions of export to avoid customs, duties, or for other reasons and it now indirectly got exposed. The article alludes to this without saying so? 3. The administration listed what seemed like inconsequential regions for the purpose of preventing Australia, for this example, of just saying it was exported from Norfolk Islands to dodge tariffs. Although, this is giving the administration way too much credit and if they are reading this don’t steal this as reason. :-)

ttyprintk 2y ago
Lesotho, a small mountain within South Africa punished with a sudden 50% tariff, disproves #3 is evidence of an intelligent carve out.
owyn 2y ago
All the "weird" countries on the list have internet domain names .nf .tk .gi .io The "penguin island" has the domain .hm So the conclusion is that the intern failed geography and did not realize that those aren't countries.

EasyMark 2y ago

I don't think it's LLM, not everthing is AI, just because that's the hot topic of the day. This forumla is too simple, it's essentially 0.5 * (their_portion_of_trade_deficit / total_trade_deficit_with_country) % . It's not complex at all and that formula fits all the % calculated by Trump's board of "liberation" too closely to not be essetially what he and his cronies came up with. Likely one of the DOGGie boys

monkeyfun 2y ago
But how do you explain an uninhabited semi-independent (as i understand it) island with no trade with the US getting higher tariffs than Australia, the country it's broadly part of?
- ethbr1 2y ago
  Because the intent of the tariffs is to prompt currency exchange rate moves and/or defense deal reevaluation. Everyone is reacting to this like it's a mystery. The architect literally wrote down the why: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43594549 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43594549
- mikrotikker 2y ago
  That island did actually trade with the US as Australia did a couple mil of trade through it for some reason