Resist Donald Trump's 'unilateral bullying', stand with us: Xi to the EU

As US president Donald Trump targeted China with heavy tariffs while pausing levies on other countries, Chinese president Xi Jinping on Friday, 11 April, appealed to the European Union (EU) to “jointly resist the unilateral bullying" by Washington.

“There is no winner in a tariff war, and going against the world will only result in self-isolation”, Xi said in his first comments since Trump began imposing tariffs on China and a host of other countries, sending shockwaves around the world.

In his meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez of Spain — which is part of the 27-member block — Xi called on China and the EU to fulfil their international responsibilities, work together to safeguard and the , and jointly resist unilateral bullying, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

"China and the EU are firm supporters of economic globalisation and free trade," Xi said.

This not only safeguards the legitimate rights and interests of China and the EU, but also serves to maintain fairness and justice within the international community while upholding international rules and order, Xi said.

Trump, angered by China’s retaliation of his initial 34 per cent tariffs against Chinese goods, escalated levies to an unprecedented 145 per cent while pausing tariffs on other countries, including the EU, for 90 days, leaving Beijing isolated.

On Friday, 11 April, against the US goods from 84 per cent to 125 per cent in a tit-for-tat move, the latest in a trade war between the world's top two economies.

Earlier, the EU announced a 90-day pause on countermeasures against the US after Trump unveiled a similar pause on his “reciprocal” tariffs.

“We want to give negotiations a chance,” CNN quoted European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen as saying on Thursday.

Trump’s pause on the EU and other countries, including India, caught Beijing unawares, as it was hoping to mobilise global opposition to Trump’s tariffs.

Trump earlier threatened three sets of US tariffs against the EU, including 25 per cent tariffs on steel and aluminium exports, 25 per cent levies on car exports and 20 per cent so-called reciprocal tariffs on all other goods.

The EU was important for China, as it was one of the Asian giant's top three largest export destinations along with and the US.

Xi said that over the past 70 years and more, China has achieved development through self-reliance and arduous struggle, never relying on others' mercies, much less fearing any unreasonable suppression.

He said no matter how the external world changed, China was confident and focused on running its own affairs well, Xinhua reported.

Noting that both China and the EU are major economies in the world and firm supporters of economic globalisation and , Xi said the two sides have formed a close relationship of symbiosis with their combined economic output exceeding one-third of the world's total.

Sanchez said China was an important partner of the EU and that the EU was committed to open and free trade, upholding multilateralism and opposing unilateral tariff hikes.

Reports from the EU, meanwhile, said the astronomical tariffs between the US and China were seen as an effective trade decoupling, meaning that Chinese goods bound for America needed to find new markets.

The EU fears its single market will be flooded with cut-price Chinese imports looking for a home, on the other hand, and has vowed to take measures to stop this from happening.

“We are prepared to use every tool in our trade defence arsenal to protect the EU single market, producers and consumers,” Hong Kong based South China Morning Post quoted EU trade chief Maros Sefcovic as saying on Friday.

The EU bloc was already under pressure from Chinese overcapacity even before the predicted Trump-fuelled trend of trade diversion.

“Collectively, the industries experiencing both rising imports from China and falling production in the EU account for 25 per cent of Europe’s manufacturing jobs,” the Post quoted a Rhodium Group note this week.

On Tuesday, 8 April, in a telephonic conversation with Chinese premier Li Qiang, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen exuded confidence that China had “enough policy tools” in reserve and was “fully capable of countering external shocks”, meaning Trump’s tariffs.

Besides the EU, China stepped its diplomatic outreach with neighbouring countries with Xi beginning his first state visit to Vietnam, Malaysia and Cambodia from April 14 to 18 to step up trade and strategic ties besides supply chain issues in the face of Trump’s tariffs.