The Chinese have a great expression: 吃苦/Chi Ku/Eat Bitter to mean "deal with hardship." Hardly anyone in the U.S. today knows what it's like to eat bitter. We are a country of consumers, China is a country of savers. In the event of a true trade war, who taps out first?
If the USG really wants to win a "war" with China, the best way to do it would be to destroy it from within. Triple the quota for Chinese high tech work visas to let their best, brightest, and merit-loving come to an environment where that is rewarded over connections/guanxi.