China calls on EU to resist “bullying” by US

New Delhi

Chinese President Xi Jinping made an appeal to the European Union (EU) to collectively resist what he described as ‘unilateral bullying’ by the United States. This appeal came amidst the US-China Trade War. China has raised the tariffs on American goods to 125%, up from the previous 84%.

The retaliatory move comes after US President Donald Trump’s decision to hike tariffs on Chinese imports to a massive 145%.

“China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities”

“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. This appeal came during a meeting with Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez.

“China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities… and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices,” the Chinese President said. He emphasized that such collective unity will “safeguard legitimate rights and interests… but also safeguard international fairness and justice.”

European stock markets experienced a decline on Friday, reversing earlier gains in response to China’s implementation of 125-percent tariffs on goods originating from the United States as a retaliatory measure against significant US tariffs.

“Both Spain and Europe have a significant trade deficit with China that we must work to rectify,” Spanish PM Sanchez stated.

“…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,” he emphasized.

Impact of tariffs on developing countries could be ‘catastrophic’: UN trade agency

The Director of the UN trade agency has warned that the implementation of Trump’s tariffs and their subsequent countermeasures may have a “catastrophic” impact on developing countries. It would hit harder than foreign aid cuts, the official stated.

According to the International Trade Centre, global trade could decline by 3-7% and global gross domestic product by 0.7%. Developing countries will be the most severely affected by this.

Read More: India Gets a Breather: Goyal Assures Exporters Amid Trump Tariffs .