TORONTO — The United States and China are embroiled in a tense trade war that seemed headed for escalation after the United States accused a top Chinese technology executive of fraud.

Who has China lashed out at?

Canada.

Furious at the arrest in Vancouver of Meng Wanzhou, a top executive at Huawei, the Chinese technology giant, China has seized at least two Canadians. Chinese social media users are clamoring for a boycott of Canada’s products. Anxious Canadians are wondering if they should scrap trips to China or urge relatives there to come home.

Canada is in a tricky spot, boxed in the middle between its two largest trading partners, and worried about having to choose sides.

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After feeling burned by negotiations to replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, the country is trying to strengthen trade relations with China in part to lessen dependence on economic ties to the United States. And many Canadians are wary of what they consider President Trump’s capricious view of Canada.