China's Xi Ramps Up Tariff War Against Trump With 125% Tax, Urges EU To Join Hands
Chinese President Xi Jinping urged the European Union to join Beijing against the US's "unilateral bullying" tariffs.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has urged the European Union to join hands with Beijing against the "unilateral bullying", referring to the sweeping import tariff slapped by US President Donald Trump.
Xi made the remark on Friday as he met Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing, according to state news agency Xinhua. He emphasised the need for cooperation between the bloc and China in weathering Beijing's mounting trade war with Washington.
"China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities... and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices," Xi said.
He further stressed that the move would not only "safeguard their own legitimate rights and interests, but also... safeguard international fairness and justice."
This is the first time the Chinese premier has reacted to the trade war after Trump increased the import tariffs on Chinese goods to 145 per cent after Beijin placed retaliatory duties of 84 per cent on imports from the United States.
China Raises Tariff On US Goods To 125%
In a worsening trade war between the two countries, China announced a new 125 per cent tariff on US imports, effective from tomorrow, reported BBC.
Imposing the duty, China's finance ministry said it will not respond to any further tariffs imposed by Washington.
"If the U.S. continues to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods exported to the U.S., China will ignore it," the ministry also said.
However, the Chinese commerce ministry said it will resolutely take countermeasures and fight to the end if the US insists on continuing to infringe on China's interests in a substantive way.
China said the "abnormally high tariffs" imposed by the US "seriously violates international and economic trade rules, basic economic laws and common sense and is completely unilateral bullying and coercion".
The country's mission to the World Trade Organisation has also said it had filed a supplementary complaint on the US tariff, reported Reuters.
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