Re “Republican senators, Trump split on tariffs” (Business, June 5): In an unusual display of defiance, Republican senators, many of whom represent states that would have high exposure to the effect of President Trump-imposed Mexican tariffs, have voiced a clear opposition and challenge to the president’s promised tariff agenda.
The president’s planned imposition of the Mexican tariffs as a means of forcing a crackdown on migration across our southern border represents a reckless coupling of Trump’s signature issue of immigration with the weaponizing of economic policy. The president, guided by a relentless personal fixation on a harsh immigration policy, is ignoring the likely economic consequences of tariffs, which are the concern of most Americans in and out of Congress.
It remains to be seen whether the Republican Senate can sustain the courage to defy a president who has commanded and received its total subservience.
Roger Hirschberg
Bondville, Vt.
