THE current US-China tariff tit-for-tat is a high-stakes game, not a war. While the phrase ‘trade war’ has long been used to describe the process of imposition of import tariffs on a country that, in turn, levies counter-tariffs, using the ‘war’ metaphor trivialises the devastation of real conflicts, which involve the loss of life, deep human trauma and the destruction of properties. Just th