The United States and other Western countries have steadily escalated long-simmering trade tensions between their economies and those of China. What began as complaints over trade surpluses, intellectual property theft, and improper subsidizations, is steadily growing into full-scale suspicion that trade with Chinese companies represents an existential threat to free economies. President Trump and members of the U.S. Congress from both political parties are seemingly bidding to out compete each other on who can sound the toughest against China.