CAT 2025 Slot 1 · DILR · Question 18

CAT 2025 Slot 1 previous year question on Mixed DI (Radar, Triangular, Stock etc), with the answer and a step-by-step solution.

Mixed DI (Radar, Triangular, Stock etc)DATA INTERPRETATION -High LevelMultiple choiceMedium

Set 4: Import Tariffs Among Five Countries — this question belongs to a set. Read the full set with all 4 questions →

Five countries engage in trade with each other. Each country levies import tariffs on the other countries. The import tariff levied by Country X on Country Y is calculated by multiplying the corresponding tariff percentage with the total imports of Country X from Country Y.

The radar chart below depicts different import tariff percentages charged by each of the five countries on the others. For example, US (the blue line in the chart) charges 20%, 40%, 30%, and 30% import tariff percentages on imports from France, India, Japan, and UK, respectively. The bar chart depicts the import tariffs levied by each county on other countries. For example, US charged import tariff of 3 billion USD on UK.

Assume that imports from one country to another equals the exports from the latter to the former.

The trade surplus of Country X with Country Y is defined as follows.

Trade surplus = Exports from Country X to Country Y – Imports to Country X from Country Y.

A negative trade surplus is called trade deficit.

Among France and UK, who has/have trade surplus(es) with US?

  1. A

    Neither France nor UK

  2. B

    Only UK

  3. C

    Both France and UK

  4. D

    Only France

Pick an option, then check.
Answer & solution

Answer: Option D

Take France first.

France's exports to the US are the US's imports from France, read through the US tariff on France: 6 billion at 20%, giving 30 billion.

France's imports from the US come from France's tariff on the US: 5.5 billion at 30%, giving \frac{5.5}{0.30}\approx 18.33 billion.

France therefore runs a surplus of about 30-18.33=11.67 billion.

Now the UK.

The UK's exports to the US are the US's imports from the UK, read through the US tariff on the UK: 3 billion at 30%, giving 10 billion.

The UK's imports from the US come from the UK's tariff on the US: 2.5 billion at 20%, giving 12.5 billion.

The UK therefore runs a deficit of 2.5 billion.

Only France has a surplus with the US, so the answer is the fourth option.

Shortcut. A country runs a surplus with the US when the US's tariff collection on it, divided by the US rate, beats its own collection divided by its own rate. France's 30 billion against 18 billion is a clear gap, while the UK's two figures sit close together — so only the UK needs careful arithmetic.

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