To the editor: If anyone is wondering how they will be personally impacted by the entirely unnecessary trade war that the current administration has decided to declare, consider this: cargo ship traffic from China has already declined substantially since February, and analysts are saying that the drop off has barely begun. By May, arrivals in West Coast ports are projected to plunge much further because U.S. businesses, especially small ones with minimal cash reserves, are canceling orders. They can’t afford the tariffs. Even large corporations are scaling back.
There will be too many results from this to summarize in a letter to the editor, but here are a few. Product shortages are forecast to arrive by summer, leading to empty retail shelves. Inflation is expected to surge. Everyday items will become harder to find, and they will be significantly more expensive than consumers are accustomed to. As prices rise, consumer spending will fall. Higher overhead and lower sales will cause business bankruptcies to spike. This will increase unemployment. And lack of job security means fewer housing sales and starts. A downward spiral will commence.
