Dear Grant,

The New York TIMES headline last Tuesday read: “Retailers fear toy shortages at Christmas as tariffs freeze supply chains.” The article went on to say, “toy makers, children’s shops and specialty retailers are pausing orders for the winter holidays as the import taxes cascade through supply chains. Factories in China produce nearly 80% of all toys and 90% of Christmas goods sold in America…alarm in the industry is palpable, with the companies predicting shortages and higher prices. Some business owners, citing how critical holiday sales are to their bottom lines, are consulting bankruptcy lawyers.”
There is currently 145% tariff on Chinese goods. Trump says they are currently “negotiating” with China – China says “no, they are not.”
The supply chain is already slowing down and putting Americans out of work. The supply chain from China primarily enters the United States on the west coast with the port of Los Angeles. The executive director of the Port of Los Angeles said that he expects incoming cargo volume to slide more than a third next week, compared with the same period in 2024.
The International Longshore and Warehouse Union issued this statement: “these tariffs are nothing more than a direct attack on the working class and should be opposed outright. The reality is clear – these tariffs don’t put ‘America first,’ the put the American people last. They will kill jobs, raise costs, and fuel economic instability that will ripple through every community in this country.”
The definition of recession is two consecutive quarters with a fall in GDP. The first quarter of 2025 recorded a negative 3.7% in GDP decline. We’re halfway there. This is solely Trump’s doing.
_{Dawn Kortmeyer
Lake City}