Readers respond to Question of the Week:

Will tariffs lead to growth or ruin?

Employment and tariffs

President Trump claims that the tariffs will bring jobs back to America and make America wealthy. There is one problem, America doesn’t have nearly enough workers for those jobs. The last quarter of 2024 we had full employment and still had over 7 million unfilled jobs. The manufacturing sector alone had over 600,000 unfilled positions. Trump’s trade wars during his first term cost American farmers over $27 billion in lost exports. Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins told the Des Moines Register on April 7 that the agency will make farmers affected by tariffs “whole” with cash assistance. So we’re going to be paying more for goods, and several businesses have already announced layoffs due to tariffs.

— Jim Winterroth, Torrance

Tariffs

The tariff news on April 10 revealed the real reason behind the tariffs and the deafness of their detractors. Except for China nearly all nations are seeking fair and equitable trade negotiations. China has now been isolated and is facing the need to change business as usual practices less they suffer dramatic financial losses. The endgame could not be clearer. Trump is working to restore America to a job-creating, production-forward economy rather than a draining service-based one. Our current economy is reflective of the fall of the Roman Empire where workers catered to the rich and the poor were pacified with public entertainment and free bread. One wonders about the true motivations of those who are promoting FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt.) If Trump wins the day, we all win. If not, the “Brave New World” and “1984” will.

— Stephen Smith, Eagle Rock

Tariffs are not good

History has proven that even when deployed prudently Tariffs are generally not good. I want focus to shift to the why is Trump doing this as opposed to what he’s saying he’s trying to accomplish. The tariffs are not being put in place for improving America’s trading. They are being used to offset the cost of the ill advised Trump-GOP self-serving tax cut. The GOP knows that waste, tariffs and increasing taxes on 90% of us isn’t covering the cost of said cut so seeking to increase the deficit ceiling. Sad policy.

— Marty Gorman, Torrance