OPINION:
In response to President Trump slapping tariffs on China, the Communist nation warned that it will “fight to the end” if the U.S. “goes further down this wrong path” (“China slams U.S. tariffs, says its economy is resilient but there are no winners in a trade war,” Web, March 6).
“Pressuring, coercion or threats are not the right way of dealing with China,” Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao said last week. “Anyone using maximum pressure on China is picking the wrong guy and miscalculation.”
In the very first 2015 Republican presidential debate, Donald Trump railed about the softness of the U.S. government, saying, “Politicians are stupid … they’re babies. We hold all the cards.”
Well, let’s see who blinks first. With the might of the U.S. economy and military backing Trump, he knows he has the equivalent of pocket aces, and he’s an expert at playing this unbeatable hand. Trump would only consider using “maximum pressure” if the situation were dire. After four years of living with an austerity budget, if it means ending the fentanayl crisis that’s killing 100,000 young people per year, I’m willing to endure a little more short-term pain in higher prices for the greater good. Why? Because I fully trust President Trump’s leadership ability and political calculus.
I can understand Communist China dragging its feet and not caring about American fentanyl deaths but what is the excuse for Canada and Mexico? Is it really asking too much to ask them to police their borders to stop the flow of this poisonous drug? What kind of “friends” are these?
As I see it, through their conscienceless indifference, these three countries already have American blood on their hands — and it can’t be allowed to go on. Like it or not, this tariff war is designed to avoid a real military war.
LUANA DUNN
Medford, New York
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