Merchants purchase goods at China Yiwu International Trade City, in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, on Feb. 9, 2025. Editor at Large Christmas comes early to Yiwu, a bustling entrepôt just a couple hours by train from China’s coastal megacity of Shanghai.

Long-threatened tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump have plunged the country into a global trade war — all while on-again, off-again new levies continue to escalate uncertainty.