Xi Jinping calls on EU to oppose US 'bullying' amid escalating trade war

Amid the escalating trade war between China and the United States, Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday called on the European Union (EU) to stand with China in opposing the US’s “unilateral acts of bullying”.

 

This is Xi’s first public statement about the tariffs since their imposition by US President Donald Trump.

 

During a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, Xi emphasised that there is no winner in a trade war, and therefore the EU and China should come together to “jointly safeguard the trend of economic globalisation and the international trade environment.”

 

The conversation with Sanchez in Beijing focussed on enhancing economic and political ties between China and the EU, reported Reuters. “China and the EU are firm supporters of economic globalisation and free trade,” Xi said, as quoted by news agency PTI.

 

He said China has always considered the EU as an important pole in a multipolar world, and is one of the major countries firmly supporting the EU’s unity and growth, Xinhua news agency reported, as quoted by Reuters. 

Sanchez, however, said that the US and China need to hold talks to defuse the situation.

 

125% retaliatory tariffs against the US 

Meanwhile, China has retaliated against US tariffs by imposing 125 per cent additional tariffs on American goods. The move comes after Trump imposed a 145 per cent tariff on some Chinese goods, further straining trade ties between the world’s two largest economies.

 

“If the US insists on continuing to infringe upon China's interests in a substantive way, China will resolutely take countermeasures and fight to the end,” China’s finance ministry said.