China is waging a trade war against the US through specific tactics resulting in loss of American jobs and manufacturing plants. This creates a national security threat when equipment and components needed for military and civilian products are no longer available from US sources.
Chinese trade war tactics include: Forced prison labor, child labor, lax labor protection laws, lax pollution controls (this is an international problem Chinese air pollution does not stay in China, it blows across the pacific to the US and around the world, Pollution in Chinese rivers flows into the ocean.), government subsidies, currency exchange rate manipulation, appropriation of foreign factories once they are set up in China, theft of intellectual property, reverse engineering, etc etc.... Many of these tactics are in violation of trade agreements.
Should the US fight back?
Economists can make a case that the economic benefits to the US in lower cost products for consumers and lower cost components for manufacturers outweigh the costs. And they can argue unions and minimum wage laws drive up the cost of labor in the US. But that does not address the national security risks, the inhumane treatment of Chinese workers, outright theft, and pollution of the global environment. (It's more than just CO2).
White House National Trade Council and Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy Director Peter Navarro spoke about the U.S.-China trade relationship. He released a report from the Office of Trade and Manufacturing Policy outlining why the U.S. must be strong on trade. June 28th, 2018.
https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/FINAL-China-Technology-Report-6.18.18-PDF.pdf
China’s Strategies of Economic Aggression
Protect China’s Home Market From Imports and Competition
Expand China’s Share of Global Markets
Secure and Control Core Natural Resources Globally
Dominate Traditional Manufacturing Industries:
Acquire Key Technologies and Intellectual Property From Other Countries, Including
the United States
Capture the Emerging High-Technology Industries That Will Drive Future Economic
Growth15 and Many Advancements in the Defense Industry
Vectors of China’s Economic Aggression in the Technology and IP Space
1. Physical Theft and Cyber-Enabled Theft of Technologies and IP
o Physical Theft of Technologies and IP Through Economic Espionage
o Cyber-Enabled Espionage and Theft
o Evasion of U.S. Export Control Laws
o Counterfeiting and Piracy
o Reverse Engineering
2. Coercive and Intrusive Regulatory Gambits
o Foreign Ownership Restrictions
o Adverse Administrative Approvals and Licensing Requirements
o Discriminatory Patent and Other IP Rights Restrictions
o Security Reviews Force Technology and IP Transfers
o Secure and Controllable Technology Standards
o Data Localization Mandates
o Burdensome and Intrusive Testing
o Discriminatory Catalogues and Lists
o Government Procurement Restrictions
o Indigenous Technology Standards That Deviate From International Norms
o Forced Research and Development
o Antimonopoly Law Extortion
o Expert Review Panels Force Disclosure of Proprietary Information
o Chinese Communist Party Co-opts Corporate Governance
o Placement of Chinese Employees with Foreign Joint Ventures
3. Economic Coercion
o Export Restraints Restrict Access to Raw Materials
o Monopsony Purchasing Power
4. Information Harvesting
o Open Source Collection of Science and Technology Information
o Chinese Nationals in U.S. as Non-Traditional Information Collectors
o Recruitment of Science, Technology, Business, and Finance Talent
5. State-Sponsored, Technology-Seeking Investment
o Chinese State Actors Involved in Technology-Seeking FDI
o Chinese Investment Vehicles Used to Acquire and Transfer U.S. Technologies
and IPa
Mergers and Acquisitions
Greenfield Investments
Seed and Venture Funding