The United States and China are not in an all-out trade war, but they're getting closer to it. That's why soybean farmers are panicking and the stock market tumbled Wednesday morning (before rebounding sharply). On a grand scale, the latest development is unlikely to send the U.S. economy into a recession. Growth is strong, and China has only threatened $50 billion tariffs on U.S. goods. Such tariffs haven't taken effect, but even if they do, they would be minuscule in relation to the United States' $18 trillion economy — 0.3 percent, to be exact. But that doesn't mean there wouldn't be pain.
