Chinese tariff retaliation could help Democratic candidates

Per Bloomberg's Josh Green:

• "Trump won eight of the 10 states with the largest soybean acreage, all of them in the Midwest."
• "Many of those same states are now host to some of the country’s closest races for Senate (Missouri, Indiana, North Dakota) and governor (Ohio, Michigan, Iowa, Minnesota)."

An exception ... The WashPost's Erica Werner writes from Akron that Ohio workers love the tariffs despite their potential effect on statewide politics:

• "Although few argue that Ohio’s steel production industry can be restored to its glory days, steelworkers here hold out optimism that some idled facilities could be restarted and some jobs brought back."

But there are signs of a pullback, according to the NYT's Ana Swanson and Keith Bradsher. "White House Edges Back From Brink of Trade War: Hints That Tariffs on China May Never Go Into Effect":

• "It remains unclear whether China will bend to the pressure and make significant changes to its economy — or whether the White House strategy will instead tip the two nations into a trade war that could harm both countries."
• "Producers of American goods like soybeans, pork, [airplanes,] automobiles and semiconductors depend on access to the Chinese market both for exports and production and say they are fearful about a conflict."