It's Trump who promotes free and fair trade
All the hysteria about tariffs is evidence that Americans either don't understand our President Trump or don't want to. It is amazing how many politicians and journalists (not business and professionals) express great alarm that our tariffs will start a trade war and that it will do great harm to various American businesses and ultimately consumers.
It does not take rocket science to understand that if China has a $600 billion-a-year trade surplus with us, that they do not want a trade war. They cannot afford it. Same is true with European Union, Canada and Mexico. Admittedly, this is a high-stakes "poker game" being played by President Trump, but he holds the winning hand. Sure there will be some short-term imbalances and disruptions in the U.S. economy, but they are all manageable. Tariffs are the only weapon our president has to try to correct some terrible trade deals we currently have.
Other countries think nothing of prohibiting U.S. imports of agricultural and many other products to protect their own inefficient producers. I think President Trump is doing just the right thing. It is he that supports both free and fair trade, not our trading partners.
Roland G. Ley
Arlington Heights