EACH DAY President Donald Trump changes the terms of his trade war with the world. One constant, though, is Mr Trump’s confidence that America can win a pain-infliction contest with China. The president’s self-assurance reflects a cherished belief: that previous leaders allowed China to steal American jobs and industries through a mixture of naivety and greed. To hear Mr Trump tell it, as soon as tariffs on Chinese goods bite, trade flows will start to rebalance. Trump aides downplay the sky-high tariffs that China has imposed on American goods in retaliation. Leaders in Beijing will blink, the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, recently predicted: “I believe it’s up to China to de-escalate because they sell five times more to us than we sell to them.”