Lasse Jeppesen Schmidt, a native of Denmark, is a former journalist.
BRATTLEBORO-I will be frank with you: This piece is the result of self-imposed psychotherapy. I am still processing the events that took place in the Rose Garden recently, and the more I learn, the more I feel both angry and afraid. I find that writing about it helps me stay sane.
So I would like to invite you on a journey around the world. It starts in the Rose Garden and continues on to three uninhabited islands before we pay a visit to a wise man in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the end, I collect my thoughts back home in Vermont.
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The Rose Garden, April 2: Donald Trump hosted the world debut of his reciprocal tariffs. He told us that the United States has been "looted, pillaged, raped, and plundered" by most of the world's countries for decades. But not to worry, because he was going to correct this historical injustice.
He told us that these reciprocal tariffs he was about to share with the world were the result of careful and very precise calculations for each individual country, looking at three elements of international trade: the actual tariffs, currency manipulation, and technical barriers.
To me, that seemed like complicated math. How do you accurately put a number on currency manipulation and technical barriers? But I assumed Trump had help by the right and bright people. He is, after all, the president of the world's richest country.
In the Rose Garden, Trump had invited a select audience of members of his administration, the press, and 20 auto workers - all friendly faces who both applauded his math and laughed at his jokes.
Of course, millions of people around the world were watching it on live TV, also. Holding their breath. Biting their nails. Focused. Anxious. Fearful. Hopeful. These tariffs would have a huge impact on the financial well-being of billions of people.
Therefore, it was with a growing sense of puzzlement that I witnessed Trump unfold the story. What we saw was not a professional presentation of a precise economic instrument to correct the unjust and highly complicated process of international trade. It was a lighthearted, even a bit farcical, show where the president told a few jokes, talked about how awesome he is, and then brought out a poster. He seemed to be seeing it for the first time.
Of course, the audience loyally played along, laughing and applauding.
The poster displayed three columns. The first was labeled with names of countries. The next column showed higher numbers, many of them above 50 and some close to 100. Next, a row of lower numbers, exactly half the value of those in the second column.
The higher numbers were supposed to indicate the tariffs other countries unfairly have imposed on the United States for decades. The lower numbers were the reciprocal tariffs now being imposed on these countries by the United States. As Donald Trump lightheartedly explained it, "we give them a 50% discount, because we are such kind people."
This comment generated polite laughter from the audience.
* * *
Some small islands far away: the Heard Island and the McDonald Islands, external territories of Australia near Antarctica, are home only to penguins and seals. From now on, they will be imposed 10% tariffs when exporting goods to the United States. It said so, right there on Trump's cardboard poster.
The same goes for the small Norwegian island of Jan Mayen - 10% tariffs. Strangely, goods from the rest of Norway are imposed 15% tariffs. It said so, right there on Trump's cardboard poster. Not that it really matters, since Jan Mayen has no civilian population and no economy.
The interesting thing here is why three of the 50 "countries" listed on the cardboard poster were in fact uninhabited islands. As the dust settled over the following days, we heard from experts on artificial intelligence that it is likely the result of the information for the poster being gathered (and calculated?) by an AI chatbot. Since these islands have their own internet country codes, a chatbot might consider them independent countries.
I find it extremely embarrassing for our country that these carefully calculated tariffs that will recalibrate international trade for years to come might have been done by software that doesn't know the difference between countries and uninhabited islands, that we claim that places with absolutely no trade with the United States have for decades "plundered" our country by imposing unfair tariffs on U.S. companies.
It only gets worse when you think about the fact that the whole world was watching it on live TV and that the presenter was our president.
* * *
Copenhagen, Denmark: Economist Lars Christensen teaches at the Copenhagen Business School, an international, top-ranked university. He was interviewed about the Rose Garden event on Danish public radio, DR, the following day.
He called it "the most surreal and outrageous theater play I have ever seen a politician perform on economic policies."
"I kept asking myself, 'What kind of numbers are these? Where do they come from? Because the real numbers are very different from those on that cardboard poster,'" he said.
He used the example of the European Union. According to Trump's poster, the tariffs imposed on the United States by the EU is 39%. According to Lars Christensen, the actual number is 2%.
Until the previous day, tariffs between the United States and the European Union was between 1% and 2%. "In reality, there has been close to free trade between the US and the EU for many years," he said.
He then shared how economists around the world within a few minutes started realizing that the numbers on the cardboard poster had nothing to do with tariffs. They were numbers for the countries' trade surplus with the United States (except for those uninhabited islands, of course).
"Economists all over the world are asking the same question: What the heck is this?" Christensen said. "They just invented a new way of calculating tariffs, disconnected from any economic theory, completely disconnected from reality."
* * *
South Newfane: I end this journey by highlighting how Donald Trump's farcical show is so much more than just an embarrassing moment for our nation. It has real-life implications. For this, I will share my own situation.
Ten years ago, we completely renovated a log cabin with a beautiful view of the Green Mountains and the Rock River. A significant part of my livelihood comes from renting it out on Airbnb and VRBO. Normally, the place is booked on four out of five nights.
But over the last month, things have changed. During March, it was booked on just 11 nights, and April looks to become even worse. Before Trump's Rose Garden performance, I had 14 nights booked in April; now, I am down to eight because of sudden cancellations.
Currently, I am going through a stretch of 10 days without guests, and I am looking at my income for March and April being reduced by $4,500.
The last time something like this happened was in March 2020, when the Covid lockdown caused my calendar to go from full to empty in two days.
For me, there is a clear correlation between Trump's tariffs and people deciding not to visit Vermont. Like me, they are afraid of bad times ahead.
Right now, I am experiencing stress and anxiety similar to what I did five years ago. The difference, though, is that back then, I was able to receive help from my government.
This time, my problems are created by the lies and manipulative calculations by my president, accompanied by laughter and applause.
In all honesty, I feel both pissed off and scared for the future.
This Voices Viewpoint was submitted to The Commons.
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