Tensions are escalating between China and the United States over trade. The Chinese government has announced retaliatory measures on a range of U.S. products, including cars and some American agriculture products after the United States listed 1,333 Chinese products to be hit by punitive tariffs of 25 percent.

Yet a trade war does not make economic sense for either side. Bilateral trade between the United States and China was worth about $711 billion in 2017, and Boeing’s single deal with China signed during President Trump’s visit to Beijing in 2016 was worth about $37 billion alone.

The jobs and livelihoods at risk are huge. So why is there no particular desire, especially from the Trump administration, to ease the tension and find a new solution?

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