President Donald Trump’s climbdown from his sweeping and ill-considered worldwide tariffs brought temporary relief to global markets on Wednesday. But his escalating import levies against China, and Beijing’s determination to fight back, leave the world’s two largest economies locked in a potentially devastating trade war. Unless this ends quickly, both economies could be damaged, and collateral harm could be done to supply chains and trade ties across Asia and the world.

While pausing tariffs on some 80 countries and territories for 90 days, Trump increased tariffs on China an additional 125 percent — for a total of 145 percent — in what he called retaliation for Beijing’s earlier tariff response against the United States. China reacted on Friday by imposing a 125 percent levy on all U.S. goods. Trump predicts that Chinese President Xi Jinping will soon see the error of his ways and come to the negotiating table. China says that’s not going to happen.

The two countries, key trading partners, are now locked in a stalemate, and as this new reality sank in, stock markets resumed their downward spiral. How this will end is now anyone’s guess.

The United States might suffer negative consequences around the world. While talking tough to Washington, Beijing is taking the high road on trade elsewhere, presenting itself as the adult on the world stage, committed to free markets and stable trading relationships. And countries that have been wary of China’s expansionist intentions are now looking to Beijing for support in a volatile time for the global economy.

In late March, for instance, as Trump and his team were finalizing their plans for a “Liberation Day” slew of tariffs, trade officials from China, Japan and South Korea were meeting in Seoul to kick-start long-stalled plans to form a trilateral free-trade bloc and enhance cooperation on supply-chain management and export controls.

In April, Xi told a Communist Party conference in Beijing about the need to deepen relations and build a “shared future” with countries in China’s “neighborhood.” For his first foreign trip of the year, Xi plans to set out on Monday to cement ties in Cambodia, Vietnam and Malaysia.

And last week, Chinese Premier Li Qiang held a telephone call with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in which she stressed the key role played by China and the European Union in supporting a free and fair global trading system. E.U. officials are reportedly planning to travel to Beijing this summer for a summit with Xi.

This time, China is unlikely to respond to Trump’s trade war in the same way it did in his first term.

In early 2020, after years of skirmishing, Beijing agreed to a “phase one” trade deal that involved China buying more U.S. agricultural products and Boeing airplanes, as well as opening itself to U.S. financial services, including credit cards. After a year, the deal was largely considered a failure, as China met only about half of its commitments after covid-19 hit and the country shut down.

China is now responding with more than its own increased tariffs. It is also blacklisting many U.S. companies from exporting to China, and it is freezing exports of rare earth elements — vital for electronics and electric vehicles — to the United States.

For years, China has been talking about trying to boost domestic demand for its products to make itself less reliant on exports. Trump’s tariffs might spur more movement in this direction. For example, Beijing could finally put more money into consumers’ hands — a stimulus the government until now has resisted.

The trade war also could accelerate the decoupling of the two leading economies. This process began during the Biden administration and was often referred to as “derisking” or “friendshoring.” In the face of Trump’s tariffs, China might decide to pursue decoupling on its own and expand alternative export markets for its products, including in Europe.

Other countries, even longtime U.S. allies, might find China to be a more reliable trading partner.

They might appreciate the stability that China’s authoritarian, state-controlled system provides for long-term planning — in contrast to the ever-changing demands emanating from an erratic U.S. president. If this comes to pass, it will be the worst unintended consequence of Trump’s trade war with China.