Letters to the Editor: Trump’s ‘shameless acts to put himself first’ raise questions about global tariffs

To the editor: This reader found contributor Josh Hammer’s comments about President Trump’s warnings against Japan and now China (“Trump’s latest trade war with China is sorely needed,” April 10) disingenuous and not a reflection of global commerce. There is a need to develop a viable financial trade strategy with each country, instead of a one-size-fits-all tariff that makes no sense, especially with countries that are dependent on our products.

Trump’s character failings and his shameless acts to put himself first before the needs of the nation raise questions about his global tariff goals. Hammer neglected to remind readers that during Trump’s first term, China’s Trademark Office granted 18 trademarks to both him and his daughter Ivanka.

Hammer also failed to mention why Trump’s largest donor in the 2024 election cycle, Elon Musk, had set up a Tesla vehicle manufacturing plant in China or why Apple manufactures most of its iPhones in China. If not for China’s ability to manufacture Musk’s Tesla EVs and Apple’s iPhones at a low price and in quantities and quality to meet market demand, both manufacturers would have chosen to manufacture their products in the United States.

Larry Naritomi, Monterey Park

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To the editor: I admit that Hammer’s column illustrates that Trump has been, for years, on the right side about China’s trade policies and has justification for his demands for high tariffs on Chinese exports. He correctly notes (in my opinion) the elite “acted in myopic and ruinous fashion” when it comes to trade with China.

But he implodes when he suggests the Chinese Communist Party “must be crushed ... by the class traitor par excellence Donald Trump.” First, the word “communist” has long ago lost any resemblance to anything other than an oligarchy and means pretty much the same thing as MAGA.

China has had a stable (mostly) functioning oligarchy for 47 years while the U.S. has had a stable (mostly) functioning democracy for nearly 250 years. Trump is trying to create an oligarchy via chaos that no wannabe oligarch has been able to establish in modern times. Trump is far more likely to be crushed.

Carl Mariz, Irvine