Letter: China’s hostile acts require response

Concerning the small-business owner paying tariffs on Kodak paper products made in China (“Tariffs are taxes we must pay,” Star-Advertiser, Letters, Sept. 23), that is unfortunate; however, his business and other U.S. companies will be similarly affected.

With President Barack Obama’s “pivot to Asia” strategy in 2012, the U.S. recognized that the Communist government of China had become a hostile nation. China’s illegal, belligerent militarization of atolls on Asian shipping trade routes, theft of U.S. technology, illegal dumping of manufactured goods and more have become a serious threat to the U.S. and our allies in Asia.

Additionally, more than 1 million U.S. factory jobs were lost to extremely inexpensive, ill-treated Chinese labor between 2000 and 2007, and the erosion continues. The U.S. must maintain its industrial base beyond just steel and aluminum.

There will be adverse effects on U.S. businesses that rely on inexpensive Chinese imports. However, we were only able to defeat Hitler and Japan because our factories could readily switch to manufacturing military equipment.

Gregg W. Robertson

Kailua

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