Steel pipes await export in Lianyungang, China. The country’s trade surplus reached nearly $1.2 trillion last year as exports continued to outpace imports.

Group14 Technologies, a start-up, slowed the construction of a battery materials factory in Moses Lake, Wash., after its customers in China balked at paying higher tariffs.

It is not clear whether President Trump will follow through on the tariff threats, or to which products they would apply.