Soumaya Keynes (The Economist) and Chad Bown (PIIE) focus on the Trump administration’s risking a trade war, after the president started a Section 232 investigation into whether steel and aluminum imports are a threat to US national security. The episode describes the controversial law that the president triggered, the international response that included threats of retaliation, and the economic problems of both the underlying Chinese overcapacity as well as the administration’s potential trade policy response.