President Donald Trump’s continuing trade war with China will escalate once more on September 1, when his administration plans to impose tariffs of 10 percent on $300 billion of Chinese imports. These new levies follow previously enacted tariffs of 25 percent on a separate basket of imports worth $250 billion, with still more to come later this autumn, as the two nations continue their tit-for-tat sparring.

According to the president, the goal of this trade war is to spur the creation of jobs stateside, or force China to agree to trade with the United States on more favorable terms. Democrats continue to argue that neither of these outcomes are likely. Nevertheless, the debate over whether Trump can “win” the trade war with China is rather vague about what it means to “win” a trade war.

Moreover, the conflict seems to be headed toward a far-reaching change in our approach to China—a shift to a containment strategy that could reorder the economic and political landscape. Whether we should pursue this path, and how prepared we are for the consequences, are questions that the media has left undiscussed.

There are a couple simple reasons why these tariffs are unlikely to create an employment boomlet in the United States. For starters, these jobs don’t necessarily have to return home, they can easily move to other developing countries. Furthermore, should those jobs return to the United States, the work involved will likely end up being heavily automated in a bid to control labor costs, which will minimize the potential job creation.

Democrats have pointed this out, and they’ve further noted that the necessary creation of new supply chains will raise prices in the near-term, hurting economic growth. They also argue that the Chinese government is unlikely to enter into a new trade agreement on less favorable terms, because China can partially offset our tariffs by devaluing its currency. But close examination reveals that there’s more at stake.