Trade turns chilly: Chip embargo symbolizes deeper US-China strains

Is global trade in Cold War 2.0? Whatever you call it, how far China and the West drift apart may depend on finding a new equilibrium between national security concerns and a desire for growth.

In the heady days after the fall of the Soviet Union, globalized trade became an article of faith. The more trade, the better. It not only made nations richer – it also made them less willing to go to war because the economic costs of doing so kept going up.

Over the next three decades,...