To the editor:
If President Donald Trump wants to address the overproduction of Chinese steel, he should work with our allies instead of against them.
Trump’s tariffs on steel and aluminum imports will hurt American manufacturers in multiple ways. They’ll pay artificially higher prices for these metals, while their products will have to compete with those of foreign manufacturers made from less-expensive materials.
Other nations will retaliate with tariffs of their own. Manufacturing, agriculture and coal exports are all likely targets—hurting the kinds of jobs that Trump has vowed to protect. American consumers will pay more on everything from cars to beer cans.
If Trump wants the world to cooperate on trade or anything else, he’s going about this the wrong way and turning our friends into adversaries. Trump’s approach to world trade is like doing surgery with a hand grenade.
— Mike Mosser, Chicago
