When he fires his trade weapons at China, President Donald Trump often appears to shoot from the hip. Officials in Beijing, by contrast, are said to deliberate much more, convening high-level meetings among ministries and regulators to determine their country’s next steps.

This process may have been at work on October 10 when the State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR), China’s antitrust watchdog, said it was investigating Qualcomm, an American semiconductor-maker, and the transport ministry levied new docking fees on American-owned ships. A day earlier the Ministry of Commerce had announced new controls on exports of rare-earth minerals. To Mr Trump, the package came as a surprise affront after months of relative calm in relations between the two countries.

SAMR said the probe

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