Years of multinational efforts have failed to get China to play by the international rules of trade. Now, President Trump has launched an all-out trade war in which the United States is confronting China on its own. Guests: Natalie Kitroeff, a business reporter for The New York Times, spoke with Peter S. Goodman, an economics correspondent. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• The intensifying trade war between the United States and China, the two largest economies on earth, has become the biggest threat to the global economy.
• Both countries seem to be hardening their positions in ways that will be difficult to resolve with the mutual face-saving that typically facilitates trade deals.