It remains unclear where the China trade war is heading. Last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent singled out China as “bad actors” in global trade. “China is the most unbalanced economy in the history of the modern world,” he told reporters, “and they are the biggest source of the U.S. trade problems.”

A striking escalation of trade hostilities shows the two economies are digging in for a protracted fight.

Donald Trump’s trade war has unleashed global uncertainty. Panelists on Washington Week With The Atlantic joined to discuss the fallout from the president’s policies—and his insistence that tariffs are the key to strengthening the American economy.