WASHINGTON—The escalation of the U.S.-China trade fight comes at a particularly 
inopportune moment for the global economy, threatening to turn a period of slower growth into recession.
In the past week, President Donald Trump has said he will impose new taxes on hundreds of billions of dollars of Chinese imports. Beijing responded by halting purchases of U.S. farm goods and allowing the value of its currency, the yuan, to fall to an 11-year low. Trump, in turn, labeled China a currency manipulator, a step that has little immediate effect but could lead to future tariff hikes.
