The TOI correspondent from Washington: The trade war between the United States and China dramatically escalated this week, reaching a new and alarming phase after tit-for-tat export controls that rattled markets even as they were closing on Friday. Barring a pullback by both sides over the weekend, more pain is expected when markets reopen Monday, after a staggering $ 1.65 trillion was wiped out of the US stock market when president Trump announced retaliatory measures against Beijing’s move to squeeze supply of critical technologies, including rare earths processing, on which it has a stranglehold. Who fired the first shot is a matter of perspective. The US has long weaponised its head-start on technology advances in areas like semiconductors to punish adversaries (like China and Russ

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