White House advisers like National Economic Council Director Larry Kudlow have been telling Wall Street and Corporate America that despite President Donald Trump's tough talk this spring on trade and tariffs, the administration isn't pursuing a trade war with China or anyone else. "This is just a proposed idea," Kudlow told reporters in early April about potential tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese steel, heavy machinery and 1,300 other products. "Nothing's happened. Nothing's been executed."