From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

NPR recently ran a story of the damage done to the New England hardwood-lumber industry by Trump’s trade war with China, which has, it is true, long been cheating America right and left in trade, most importantly in theft of U.S. firms’ intellectual property. China has imposed hefty retaliatory tariffs on such important species as red oak, ash and cherry.

The bombastic Trump was right to challenge the Chinese on trade but is too ignorant to know how to do it. Unlike some big agribusiness operations in the politically important Midwest (the Iowa caucuses!), the hardwood industry has received little offsetting compensation from the federal government. You don’t think of New England as a big grower of crops but our densely wooded region grows an important amount of high-value trees not growable in most of the world. Trump offers partial reimbursement (from our taxes) of the losses suffered by Midwest agribusiness because of his tariffs; he should do the same for folks in the hardwood business.

Meanwhile, I wonder how the warming climate will affect the mix of trees in New England. Palmettos in Newport in 2050? To read the NPR report, please hit this link.