China’s President Xi: There is no winner in a tariff war
Following his meeting with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Friday, Chinese President Xi Jinping said that “there is no winner in a tariff war.”
Additional quotes
- No matter the changes to external environment, China will strengthen its confidence.
- To maintain determination and concentrate on doing its own thing.
- China and Europe should stick to partnership and adhere to open cooperation.
- China and Europe should fulfil international responsibilities, jointly maintain international trade order.
- Both sides should not only safeguard own interests but international fairness and justice.
Market reaction
At the time of writing, US S&P 500 futures. the risk barometer, is up 1.08% on the day while the US Dollar Index (DXY) recovers losses to trade near 100.50.
US-China Trade War FAQs
Generally speaking, a trade war is an economic conflict between two or more countries due to extreme protectionism on one end. It implies the creation of trade barriers, such as tariffs, which result in counter-barriers, escalating import costs, and hence the cost of living.
An economic conflict between the United States (US) and China began early in 2018, when President Donald Trump set trade barriers on China, claiming unfair commercial practices and intellectual property theft from the Asian giant. China took retaliatory action, imposing tariffs on multiple US goods, such as automobiles and soybeans. Tensions escalated until the two countries signed the US-China Phase One trade deal in January 2020. The agreement required structural reforms and other changes to China’s economic and trade regime and pretended to restore stability and trust between the two nations. However, the Coronavirus pandemic took the focus out of the conflict. Yet, it is worth mentioning that President Joe Biden, who took office after Trump, kept tariffs in place and even added some additional levies.
The return of Donald Trump to the White House as the 47th US President has sparked a fresh wave of tensions between the two countries. During the 2024 election campaign, Trump pledged to impose 60% tariffs on China once he returned to office, which he did on January 20, 2025. With Trump back, the US-China trade war is meant to resume where it was left, with tit-for-tat policies affecting the global economic landscape amid disruptions in global supply chains, resulting in a reduction in spending, particularly investment, and directly feeding into the Consumer Price Index inflation.
Author
Dhwani Mehta
FXStreet
Residing in Mumbai (India), Dhwani is a Senior Analyst and Manager of the Asian session at FXStreet. She has over 10 years of experience in analyzing and covering the global financial markets, with specialization in Forex and commodities markets.
