Readers Write: Tariff trouble

Opinion editor’s note: Strib Voices publishes letters from readers online and in print each day. To contribute, click here.

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Oh, joy. President Donald Trump put a 90-day pause on most of his tariff war against the world, and the market bounced back up some. I feel like I fell down a well and climbed back up not even halfway. It’s still dark and wet in here.

Left in place is a 10% tariff on all imported goods that I’ll have to pay. I like it better when taxes are paid progressively by income, which is fairer and based on the ability to pay. Prices are still going up. Inflation is still coming. The chance of recession is still looming. The man in the Oval Office still doesn’t understand tariffs and world economics, and I’m not counting on him to come to even a basic understanding of it in the next 90 days.

Paul Rozycki, Minneapolis

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So, somehow pausing the tariffs was Trump’s “strategy all along,” according to the Treasury secretary, but it was also because the president said, “Over the last few days, it looked pretty glum.” He said he would never back down, but then soon after said, “You have to be flexible.” The White House press secretary accused reporters of failing to “see what President Trump is doing here.” Even billionaire Trump supporters can’t see it, and they let him know about it.

This all seems like a big, stupid, self-inflicted wound, but maybe not. It could be just another bizarre type of cash grab the Trump family is becoming known for. I would like to see the stock trades of his inner circle over the last couple of weeks.

Bob Worrall, Roseville

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Contrary to what all the critics and market reactions to increased tariffs, I will venture to say that all this will turn out just fine. I knew we had consistent trade deficits, but the disparity with China and some other countries was quite a surprise. Trump will be busy developing tailored deals with each country, something that should have been done decades ago. American prosperity simply got the best of us while no one was paying attention. We shopped for the lowest-price deals that frequently came from other countries that maintained low labor costs relative to what America could manufacture. We moved manufacturing overseas to take advantage of those labor costs.

Critics feel tariff wars will increase consumer prices, but trying to manufacture and sell made in America products will also increase our consumer prices. Ultimately it may just be a zero-sum exercise to nowhere and gravitate back to the status quo of past decades of successful world trade — but just maybe at a lower imbalance, credited to Trump.

Michael Tillemans, Minneapolis

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The president said he paused the tariffs because people were getting “queasy,” and “yippy.” The other five of the seven dwarves are “Jumpy,” “Edgy,” “Fidgety,” “Panicky,” and “Fedtheheckup.”

Gary Brisbin, Fridley

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From a student who came very close to failing economics, I’m hesitant to comment on the trade wars, and I fear simplifying the situation, but here it goes: Americans consume things. Lots more things than any other country, including China. We consume so many things, American business leaders thought it would be good for their bottom line to have all the things we consume made somewhere else, somewhere that pays workers a fraction of what workers in America would require. China and other countries stepped in to do that work. Now this administration wants those jobs back and wants to punish the countries that started making all the things Americans consume, because they do not buy as much from us. The problem is, those other countries do not consume as much as Americans do.

Liz Knutson, Minneapolis

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For at least four decades, the U.S. has acquiesced to an unbalanced international trade regimen that took advantage of Americans. Presidents and members of Congress groused about these inequities for the same period but did nothing. An internet search yields many of their statements that died on the vine. On the other hand, during the same period, Trump railed against this lack of fairness. In the piece “Thank goodness Trump paused his destructive trade war” (Strib Voices, April 10) Andy Brehm attempts to negate Trump’s initiative as “heavy-handed” and indicative of an “erratic president.” It is apparent that Brehm is willing to overlook our trade imbalance that is directly linked to confiscatory tariffs. Apparently Brehm desires the status quo, which is partially the reason we have a $36 trillion debt.

Well, Trump is not cut from the same cloth as Brehm. Trump is willing to disrupt the economic world order to solve an issue. Apparently, it is working, as over 75 countries are lined up to renegotiate their trading practices. Brehm laments the fact that Republicans are unwilling to push back against Trump. This is ill-advised, as the tariff reset is only part of Trump’s overall plan of restarting the American economy. Companion legislation is pending that will loosen regulations, lower spending, reinvigorate the fossil-fuel industry and make Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act permanent. Weak-kneed Republicans like Brehm do not advance American exceptionalism and would serve the country better if they observe, take notes and watch how it’s done.

Joe Polunc, Waconia

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Unfortunately, Trump may find that he just does not have the cards as he goes head-to-head in a tariff war with Chinese President Xi Jinping. China has the potential to do major harm to the credibility of the U.S. dollar and economy by dumping its reserves of U.S. treasury debt.

Larry Risser, Minneapolis

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In the wake of Trump’s abrupt decision to pause his planned tariffs for 90 days, his minions are now singing his praises. Stephen Miller, Homeland Security adviser, tweeted: “You have been watching the greatest economic master strategy from an American President in history.”

In my opinion, Trump deserves no praise whatsoever. It was his disastrous tariff plan that tanked the stock market and slowed our economy. It was his foolhardy scheme that fomented a worldwide trade war. It was his pernicious “art of the deal” that created instability everywhere, angered our allies and provoked China’s massive reciprocal tariffs. The fact that Trump was finally forced to change course is no reason to praise the man. He created the problem; he gets no credit for solving it.

In my book, to quote Oscar Wilde, Trump “hasn’t a single redeeming vice!”

Alan Bray, St. Peter, Minn

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During the wild economic ride of the last week, many Trump supporters began saying, “This is not what we voted for.” But it is precisely what they voted for. Trump’s protectionist economic and tariff views have been there for all to see for a long time, nor were they hidden during his campaign. They were simply overlooked by voters whose impressions were surmounted by empty promises of lower inflation and cheaper groceries and who were swayed by their shared fear and hate for migrants, people of color, LGBTQ people, trans people and other marginalized groups.

But don’t be mollified by the drastic tariff flip. There’s still more economic pain to come, as we are entering a full-blown trade war with the world’s second-largest economy, and all those other proposed tariffs have only been postponed.

David Pederson, Excelsior