Xi Jinping’s first reaction as Donald Trump slaps 145% tariffs on China: ‘…unilateral bullying’ | World News

Xi Jinping made the comments as he met with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing.

“China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities… and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices,” Xi said, according to AFP.

Also Read | What could be China’s next step as Donald Trump slaps it with 125% tariffs?

The Chinese president stressed that this would not only “safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests, but also… safeguard international fairness and justice.”

Sanchez, in turn, said tensions over trade should not impede cooperation between the European Union and China.

“Both Spain and Europe have a significant trade deficit with China that we must work to rectify,” he said, according to AFP.

“…We must not let trade tensions stand in the way of the potential growth of the relationship between China and Spain and between China and the EU.”

Also Read | China opens new front in trade war with US with Hollywood import curbs

This is Sanchez’s third visit to China in just over two years.

Donald Trump’s tariff on China

Donald Trump has ratcheted up a trade war with China after he hiked the tariff on Chinese imports to 145%.

Since taking office in January, Trump has now raised the tariff on Chinese goods five times.

The first two hikes of 10% each were met with what analysts described as a measured response from China that left the door open for talks. But after Trump announced an additional 34% duty on Chinese goods last week, along with tariffs on other countries in his “Liberation Day”, China matched that with a 34% tariff on imports from the US.

Also Read | Why did Donald Trump raise US tariffs on China to 125% and hit pause elsewhere?

Following China’s retaliations, Trump then added a 50% tariff on goods from China, saying negotiations were terminated, and bringing the cumulative US. tariffs to 104%.

China again responded by raising the tariff on American products by the same amount, bringing its total rate to 84%. Then Trump upped the American tariff to 125%.

Later, the White House clarified that the tariffs on China also include a 20% levy put into place earlier this year over Beijing’s alleged role in fentanyl trafficking.