Hours after Beijing raised its tariffs on US products to 125% in the latest salvo of its trade dispute with Washington, Chinese President Xi Jinping called on the European Union to join China in defending globalisation and opposing “unilateral acts of bullying,” in pointed criticism of President Donald Trump’s escalating tariff campaign.
Xi made the comments during talks with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Beijing on Friday, while saying that China views the EU as a vital partner in a multipolar world and encouraging closer coordination to stabilise global trade. Sounding a warning without referencing the US directly, Xi said, “There are no winners in a tariff war.”
China’s commerce ministry announced on Friday that it would raise tariffs on all US imports from 84% to 125%, escalating the trade conflict, but also suggesting it may be Beijing’s final tariff move in the current round of retaliations.
The ministry said there was now “no market acceptance” for US exports at such high tariff levels and warned that China was prepared to “fight to the end” if provoked further. “If the US continues to impose tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the US, China will ignore it,” the statement read, hinting at alternative countermeasures still under consideration.
The news rattled global markets on Friday as Asian indices plunged, with Japan’s Nikkei falling nearly 5% and Hong Kong stocks headed for their worst week since 2008. Oil prices were also on track for a second week of declines.
Sánchez echoed the concern, urging Washington and Beijing to resume dialogue and terming trade wars as “not good” for the world. He also stressed the need for a more balanced EU-China relationship, citing the bloc’s $300 billion trade deficit with Beijing.
The comments came as Trump increased tariffs on Chinese goods to over 145%, while China retaliated with 125% duties on US imports. In a partial reprieve, Trump suspended some tariffs on other countries, including the EU, for 90 days.
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‘No winners in a tariff war’
On Friday, Xi welcomed Spain’s Pedro Sánchez, after also talking to counterparts in Saudi Arabia and South Africa. According to the official Chinese summary of the talks, Xi said “there will be no winners in a tariff war, and going against the world will isolate oneself”, in an apparent reference to the US.
“China and the EU should fulfil their international responsibilities, jointly maintain the trend of economic globalisation and the international trade environment, and jointly resist unilateral bullying, not only to safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests, but also to safeguard international fairness and justice, and to safeguard international rules and order,” the summary said the Chinese president told Sánchez.
Chinese President Xi Jinping, second right and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, second left, during a bilateral meeting at Diaoyutai Guest House in Beijing, China, Friday, April 11, 2025. (Andres Martinez Casares/Pool Photo via AP)
Spain said Sánchez told Xi his country favoured a more balanced relationship between the EU and China based on negotiations to resolve differences and cooperation in areas of common interest.
Xi plans to travel to south-east Asia, including Vietnam and Cambodia next week, The Guardian reported.
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Macron wrote on X early on Friday that Trump’s partial tariff suspension, pausing new rates on various countries that would have risen as high as 50%, “sends out a signal and leaves the door open for talks. But this pause is a fragile one.”
The temporary suspension of U.S. tariffs for 90 days is both a signal and an opening for negotiation.
Yet this pause remains fragile.
Fragile, because the 25% duties on steel, aluminum and automobiles, as well as the 10% tariffs on other products, are still in place.…
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) April 11, 2025
He added: “This 90-day pause means 90 days of uncertainty for all our businesses, on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.”
Battered financial markets were given a brief reprieve on Wednesday when Trump decided to pause duties on dozens of countries. However, his escalating trade dispute with China, the world’s second-largest economy, has continued to fuel fears of recession and further retaliation.
The US’s S&P 500 index ended 3.5% lower on Thursday and was now down about 15% from its all-time peak in February.
The ‘Pause’
While Trump suddenly paused “reciprocal” tariffs on other countries hours after they came into effect this week, he excluded China from the reprieve, instead increasing duties on Chinese imports as punishment for Beijing’s initial move to retaliate.
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Trump had imposed tariffs on Chinese goods of 145% since taking office, a White House official said.
Meanwhile, Trump told reporters at the White House he thought the US could make a deal with China, but reiterated his argument that Beijing had “really taken advantage” of the US for a long time.
“I’m sure that we’ll be able to get along very well,” the US president said, referring to Xi. “In a true sense, he’s been a friend of mine for a long period of time, and I think that we’ll end up working out something that’s very good for both countries.”
Xi and Trump are not known to have spoken since before Trump’s inauguration. Beijing has said it has no intention of backing down to what it terms as Trump’s “bullying” with tariffs.
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“We will never sit idly by and watch while the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese people are infringed, nor will we sit idly by as international economic and trade rules and the multilateral trading system are undermined,” the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, said on Thursday.
As well as retaliatory tariffs, Beijing has restricted imports of Hollywood films, and put 18 US companies on trade restriction lists.
The commerce ministry said China’s door was open to dialogue but this must be based on mutual respect.
-With inputs from PTI and Reuters
