China “has never depended on favors from others and has never been intimidated by any unfair repression,” said Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday (11). This was the first time Xi referred to Donald Trump’s first executive order, signed on February 1, imposing the first 10% tariff on Chinese imports to the US.
Without mentioning the US or Trump, the Chinese president called on the European Union (EU) to “jointly resist unilateral bullying”. Xi said that for more than 70 years “China’s development has always been based on self-reliance and tireless hard work.”
This was not a statement, but a speech made during a meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Beijing, which could be an indicator of the future Chinese position regarding US policies.
Xi Jinping also reiterated that “there will be no winners in a tariff war, and going against the world means becoming isolated”, a position restated by spokespeople from different Chinese government ministries since the Trump administration began implementing tariffs.
“China and the EU should comply with their international responsibilities, and jointly safeguard the trend of economic globalization and the international trade environment,” the Chinese president stressed at the meeting with his Spanish counterpart. He also called on both sides to defend “not only their own legitimate rights and interests, but also international fairness and justice, and safeguard international rules and order.”
“Under the current circumstances, it is of great practical importance to jointly build the four major China-European Union partnerships: peace, growth, reform and civilization,” said Xi, about a proposal he made in 2014.
Ten years later, in 2024, China remained the European bloc’s third largest export destination with 8.3%, behind the United States (20.6%), and the United Kingdom (13.2%), respectively.
While in Beijing, Sánchez met with automobile, battery and renewable energy companies. The aim was to attract Chinese investment in Spain that would generate “added-value and quality employment”, according to La Moncloa (as the official residence and workplace of the Spanish government are known).
China intensifies dialog with trade partners
Trump reportedly told his team this week that he is waiting for China to make the first move and contact the White House, according to CNN, because China has chosen to retaliate. However, the Chinese government doesn’t seem too prone to responding to the Trump administration’s conditions.
On March 30, China, Japan and South Korea held their first economic meeting in five years, at the 13th Trilateral Economic and Trade Ministers’ Meeting. The aim was to strengthen trade and investment collaboration and advance regional and multilateral cooperation.
On Friday (11), it was announced that Xi Jinping will visit Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia next week. The US has subjected the three Asian countries to some higher tariffs (now reduced to 10%), particularly Vietnam (46%) and Cambodia (49%). Malaysia had received a 24% import tariff.
Xi will be in Vietnam on April 14 and 15 and then travel to Malaysia and Cambodia between April 15 and 18.
Tariff war
On Friday morning (11), the State Council Tariff Commission of the People’s Republic of China announced a new increase in tariffs on products from the United States to 125%. The increase comes into effect on Saturday (12) and is a response to US President Donald Trump’s tariff policy of 145% on Chinese imports.
“The US imposed abnormally high tariffs on China,” the commission said in a statement. This, according to the commission, “seriously violated international trade rules, disregarded the post-World War II global economic order built by the United States itself and went against basic economic laws and common sense.”
In the statement, the Chinese government also said that continuing to raise tariffs no longer makes economic sense and that the measure “will become a joke in the history of the world economy.”
On Wednesday (9), Trump announced he was increasing tariffs on Chinese products to 125%, thus bringing the tariffs to 145%. The Chinese Tariff Commission said that in addition to the increase from 84% to 125%, other issues will be implemented following the “Announcement of the Tariff Commission of the State Council on the Imposition of Additional Tariffs on Imported Goods Originating in the United States.”
China says it will ignore “the numbers game” and warns that “if the US insists on continuing to substantially infringe on China’s interests, China will resolutely counter and fight to the end.”
