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Episode 849: It Takes Two To Make A Trade War Fight

Alissa Escarce/NPR

ICYMI, President Trump has started a trade war with China. It's on. He says he wants to stop China from stealing ideas and technology from the United States. As proof, he likes to talk about a huge report put together by the U.S. Trade Representative's office. Which he asked for.

The report includes a list of U.S. trade associations and companies that are upset about all this. So we called up a bunch of them. Just about everyone said they wouldn't talk. But there was one: A Virginia businessman willing to tell us his story.

Today on the show: the strange, complicated, and very personal tale of a dispute over technology. It's a story of suspicion, accusations, and a miraculously healthy sugar substitute.

Music: "Hep Cat," "Cowboy Country" and "The Duchess."

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Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

Noel King is a host of Morning Edition and Up First.
Nick Fountain produces and reports for Planet Money. Since he joined the team in 2015, he's reported stories on pears, black pepper, ice cream, chicken, and hot dogs (twice). Come to think of it, he reports on food a whole lot. But he's also driven the world's longest yard sale, uncovered the secretive group that controls international mail, and told the story of a crazy patent scheme that involved an acting Attorney General.