The United States and China are locked in a faceoff over tariffs. No one wants to blink first

The tariff fight between the world’s two largest economies has spiraled into greater peril. President Donald Trump is now trying to narrow his global trade war into a risky direct faceoff with Beijing. As Trump reversed his larger “reciprocal” tariffs on most of the world in the face of recession fears, he nonetheless hiked his tariffs on China once again. That locked the two strategic rivals into a deepening standoff that endangers both their economies and interests around the world. Each nation dares the other to blink first, but the rounds of escalation have raised concerns that the window for diplomacy has further narrowed, while the economic pain on both economies intensifies.