The president is deploying the word “deal” liberally, using the term to describe all kinds of trade arrangements, some very limited or one-sided.

Its new deal with Vietnam and its fresh tariff threats issued to many other countries seem designed to reduce China’s role in their supply chain. Countries that had hoped to stay out of the new cold war now fear they are being forced to pick a side. To appease the world’s biggest market, they must anger the world’s biggest trader.

President Donald Trump and his administration are racing to get trade deals done ahead of a self-imposed deadline, at which point tariffs are set to rise for dozens of countries across the world.