DEAR EDITOR:

Upon waking April 9, goods coming from China are now double (and then some) in cost due to Trump’s tariffs / trade war. Anyone who thinks differently needs to go back to Economics 101.

These tariffs are nothing more than an exercise in putting the cart before the horse. While I can agree we need to kick our dependence (addiction?) to imported goods coming from less-than-friendly nations and need to bring manufacturing back stateside, Mr. Trump is approaching this the wrong way.

Mr. Trump needed to push Congress to make us more appealing to manufacturers looking to reinvest in domestic production — including tax breaks / incentives for companies to take advantage of in the next five to seven years before the tariffs kicked in.

It takes time to build new facilities, and because he imposed the tariffs first, manufacturers are not going to have the money to invest in new construction, as consumers are already pulling back their spending. Ergo, he did this backwards and put the cart before the horse.

Don’t agree? Go to the financial section and see how the stock market is faring. I’m no expert, but if I was a shareholder on the board of directors, I’d be telling the CEO to hold off on spending / reinvestment and that they may have to find a new job if they can’t control the hemorrhaging of the stock’s value.

BRIAN FIX

Youngstown