China Warns U.S. Firms as Trade War Brews: Buckle Up

Tit-for-tat tariffs and other punishments threaten multinationals with a footprint on the mainland

Lingling Wei and

Yoko Kubota

Updated June 15, 2018 5:41 p.m. ET

BEIJING—When a group of American executives and other global corporate chieftains met with Chinese Vice President Wang Qishan in late March, they received a stern message about the simmering U.S.-China trade conflict: If tensions escalate, buckle up.

“The message was pretty clear,” said a person who attended. “A lot of companies would become victims in a U.S.-China trade war.”

That...