AP Photo/Alex Brandon
The Issue: The negative effect of President Trump’s tariffs on small-business owners around the country.
The Editorial Board could not be more spot-on that “the little folks” are getting slammed by these tariffs (“Mom-&-pops are the ones paying the price,” April 15).
As a small-business owner, I was stunned by President Trump’s initial 25% tariffs. But I never passed those new costs onto my customers. Why? Because the minute prices increase, people look elsewhere.
This new 145% tariff on China, however, has really rocked my world.
I voted for Trump because I thought he would have the best interests of small businesses in mind, and the thought of counting on Kamala Harris to bring America to the status it once enjoyed sent shivers up my spine.
Please, Mr. President, if you or your staff are reading this: Let’s make America affordable again. Let us exhale.
Catherine Kropf Harris
Levittown
Why is The Post pandering to the left with this editorial on how tariffs are going to crush small businesses?
If you’re a business owner who’s getting products from China, I suggest you find another country for production — because if you’re just using their labor and selling your merchandise here, you’re part of the problem.
It’s time for everyone to tighten their belts a bit, so we can deal with this crushing debt that will bankrupt the country. The can has been kicked down the road for generations, and we’re at the tipping point. This is pathetic.
James Schwartz
Summit, NJ
Trump’s new tariff policy and ensuing trade war have achieved only one thing — re-energizing the Democrats.
Trump-policy supporters are trying to put a smiley face on this disaster, reminding people that a little pain in the short term will lead to big rewards in the long term. But what’s their definition of “long term”? One year, three years, 10 years? Trump promised to repair the Biden economic damage on Day 1.
As your editorial pointed out, it’s the little folks who are getting slammed — the very people who voted for Trump and make up the backbone of the country and his base.
J.J. Crovatto
Ramsey, NJ
These small companies should never have sold their souls to China.
There are much friendlier countries that pay lower wages and aren’t looking to destroy us whose people would have gladly performed this work — if it’s that important for these businesses to pay slave-like labor rates to maximize their profits.
Joseph J. Grassi
Port St. Lucie, Fla.
The Issue: Widespread tolerance among Democrats for arson, vandalism, and worse by extreme leftists.
While nonviolent protests should, in my opinion, be allowed, violent tactics are evil and should be condemned (“Bust in GOP, Tesla arsons,” April 15).
It would seem that those who use violence in order to achieve their goals believe it is justified because they feel that only their way of seeing the world should be permitted.
But this violence is a threat to those who hold differing views.
People who use violence as a means to achieve their goals must be severely punished.
Les Kurtz
Manhattan
Democrats are notorious for condemning violence, except when it is directed at their political foes.
Their silence in the face of violent rhetoric, people setting fire to Tesla vehicles and dealerships and the gleeful support for cold-blooded alleged assassin Luigi Mangione is sinking them deeper in moral decay.
JoAnn Frank
Clearwater, Fla.
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