INT 220 • LET’S MAKE A DEAL

Know the rules.
Explain your results.

A guide to the revised trade simulation: what earns growth, what limits deals, and where classroom assumptions replace economic measurement.

This is a simulated economic growth score. The 20% export credit, 25% tariff drag, resource bonuses, and trading limits are teaching choices—not economic laws or calibrated forecasts. Current interface labels may still say “GDP.”

01 / Score your decisions

Growth credits & penalties

20%

Export growth credit

Every $100M in negotiated export sales adds $20M to modeled GDP. Applies in practice, Round 1, and Round 2.

25%

Domestic tariff drag

In Round 2, every $1M of duties paid by domestic importers reduces modeled GDP by $0.25M. This is an assumed additional effect on demand, profits, and investment.

+2 pp

Critical need secured

Earn two percentage points of growth for securing your country’s designated critical resource.

−2 pp

Critical need missing

Applied only when a scored round closes. While open, this penalty remains pending. Practice results are disposable.

+0.5 pp

Secondary needs

Earn 0.5 percentage points per secured secondary need. Maximum: three rewards, totaling +1.5 points.

Resource threshold

For each need, qualifying imports must reach 1% of round-start GDP. Tariffs do not count toward resource attainment.

02 / Negotiate within limits

Trading guardrails

20%

Export capacity

Total goods exports per round cannot exceed 20% of that country’s round-start GDP.

15%

Import budget

Goods purchases plus tariffs cannot exceed 15% of the importer’s round-start GDP.

Single-deal limit

One deal’s goods value cannot exceed 5% of the importer’s round-start GDP. The tariff also must fit its remaining import budget.

5–25%

Student tariff choices

Round 2 only: choose 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, or 25%, subject to instructor approval.

0–25%

Instructor override

The instructor may set any tariff rate from 0% to 25%. Zero removes the tariff.

Percent vs. percentage points: a 5% tariff is applied to a purchase price. A −0.06 percentage-point growth effect takes 0.93% growth to about 0.87%; it is not a 6% GDP decline.

03 / FOLLOW THE CALCULATION

Net modeled GDP gain = (Exports × 20%) − (Domestic tariff payments × 25%)

Growth (%) = (Net gain ÷ Round-start GDP) × 100 + Resource effect (pp)

Use matching units: all monetary values in millions. No tariffs apply in practice or Round 1. Government tariff receipts are tracked separately and earn no automatic growth bonus.

04 / Follow the money

One $186M deal • 5% tariff

Paltheria’s exporter receives$186MExport growth credit: $186M × 20% = $37.2M.

Novara’s importers spend$195.3M$186M goods + $9.3M tariff. All of it uses the import budget.

Novara’s government collects$9.3MSame domestic payment. Modeled drag: $9.3M × 25% = $2.325M.

Novara example: with $3,724M starting GDP, $80M exports, and +0.5 pp resource credit: [(16 − 2.325) ÷ 3,724] × 100 + 0.5 = 0.87% growth. Holding sales and resources fixed, growth without tariff drag would be 0.93%. Difference: about 0.062 percentage points.

05 / Structural assumptions

What else is built in?

Countries have fictional starting GDP, fixed export categories, and assigned needs.
Electronics qualifies toward a Hi-Tech need.
Trade balance is informational; imports do not directly subtract from this growth score.
Exporters receive negotiated sale proceeds, without an automatic tariff deduction.
Higher budget use can constrain resources; the additional 25% drag models other domestic effects. It is not a measured welfare loss.

06 / Timing & comparison

Read the result correctly

Practice is reset before scored trading begins.
Round 1 ending GDP becomes Round 2 starting GDP.
Trade values and tariff rates are locked when a deal is recorded; later tariff changes do not rewrite it.
Rank countries by percentage growth, not absolute ending GDP.
The no-drag comparison holds actual sales and resource achievements fixed; it does not predict all behavior without tariffs.
Exporters can lose sales through smaller orders, supplier switching, or negotiated price cuts.