Betting Our Chips On A New Trade War

This is not your grandfathers’ trade war. Trade wars of old broke out when one nation, say America, was importing too many shoes from China at prices so low that domestic manufacturers and their union demanded tariff protection. That was then, this is now. A trade war is in progress because the administration believes American firms are exporting too many advanced semiconductors (chips) and the equipment for their manufacture, needed by China for its surveillance programs and advanced weapons systems.