Xi Warns US Will Isolate Itself

There are no winners in a tariff war, the Chinese president has said

by RT / April 12th, 2025

 

Chinese President Xi Jinping. ©  Ken Ishii – Pool/Getty Images

The United States risks isolating itself by pursuing unilateral trade restrictions, Chinese President Xi Jinping warned on Friday during a visit of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to Beijing.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has launched an escalating tariff war with China, imposing a total of 145% in duties on Chinese imports this week. Beijing has retaliated by hiking tariffs on American goods to 125%.

“There are no winners in the tariff war and standing against the world ultimately results in self-isolation,” Xi said, as cited by Xinhua news agency.

Xi called on China and the European Union to “jointly resist unilateral bullying” in order to protect their legitimate rights and interests, and uphold international rules and order.

The EU, which has been targeted with a 20% tariff by the US, has warned of significant global economic repercussions and has vowed to take countermeasures. Earlier this week, Trump declared a 90-day pause on reciprocal duties for most US trading partners, including the EU, allowing a window for negotiation.

Brussels has adopted a policy of “de-risking” towards Chinese imports, balancing protective trade measures such as tariffs on electric vehicles with efforts to maintain constructive economic relations.

The Chinese president also stated that regardless of changes in the external environment, the country would remain steadfast, focused, and would efficiently manage its own affairs.

“For over seven decades, China’s growth has been fueled by self-reliance and hard work, never depending on favors from others and never backing down in the face of unreasonable suppression,” Xi explained.

Trump argues that the increased duties are needed to address trade imbalances and stop China from “ripping off the USA.” Earlier this week, he opined that the “proud” Chinese would have to “make a deal at some point.”

China has slammed Trump’s “abnormally high tariffs” on Chinese products as “unilateral bullying and coercion.” The move by the US president represents “a serious violation of international economic and trade rules, as well as of basic economic laws and common sense,” Beijing stressed.

The trade dispute between the world’s two largest economies has disrupted global markets, sent oil prices to four-year lows and caused concerns over global supply chains.

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 Why the Elitists and Many Americans Applaud Trump’s Tariffs

by Dimitris Eleas / April 12th, 2025

Donald J. Trump is reinstating protectionist rhetoric, using tariffs as a tool for reindustrialization, political pressure, and wealth redistribution, while the American elite continues to support him, despite the potentially devastating effects on the global economy.

Is Trump turning his tariffs against the United States’ historic allies? One doesn’t have to be a genius to see that. At the same time, the local elite stands by Trump, seeing him as a savior, even when stock market indices on Wall Street fall or the competitiveness of American businesses declines.

Why did America have to resort to tariffs (taxes on imports)? The reason is simple: The US owes huge amounts of money. Many countries earn significant amounts from trade with the US and then, use that revenue to buy up some of the US debt (see: China). The total debt is $36 trillion and requires over a trillion dollars a year to service it! At the same time, the US spends 35% more than its government revenues annually, which increases the federal budget deficit and adds new debt every year. The amounts are unimaginable… while Americans save very little.

As is well known, the way tariffs are imposed causes disruption and chaos, as they are mainly retaliatory measures. Is this some kind of solution that “returns America” to the 19th century? Maybe. But back then we had high tariffs and low taxes.

How does the average American view the tariffs imposed by the 47^th President? Americans elected Trump for many reasons. He said from the beginning what he would do, so what is happening is not surprising. A very large part of society in the US believes that he is leading the country on the right path. They believe that his moves, both domestically and internationally, will pay off in the long run. Many believe that, at some point, they will benefit from these excessive moves.

Trump has a lot of “weapons” in his quiver. He’s smart, and he knows how to use language. When he talks about “Liberation Day,” many Americans—even if they haven’t seen much change in their wallets yet—feel like someone is fighting for them. Despite the fact that products in the supermarket remain expensive, they believe that when tariffs of 34% are imposed on China, 20% on the EU, 24% on Japan and 27% on India, then “something is happening.”

Thus, Americans will be forced to produce goods and consume American products, since – in an ideal scenario – these will be cheaper, of higher quality, and produced by American hands.

How and why is Trump using tariffs? I wish he knew. He has been convinced that imposing them will benefit the economy in the long run and lead to the reindustrialization of America. That is, it will reverse the massive transfer of industries to Asia – mainly to China – that began under Reagan, with the support of the Republicans, in the 1980s. Then, the same Party that promoted globalization is today trying to overthrow it – and noisily so…

Here, it should be noted that the moves of the American “deep state” at that time were aimed at exploiting China. However, the Chinese seized the opportunity and steadily and methodically began the “miracle” that their economic rise symbolizes today.

However, with tariffs, Trump is turning historic allies against the US. However, he believes that tariffs give him great negotiating power. In other words, by imposing tariffs, he is trying to revoke them if the country on which he imposed the tariffs has achieved what he wanted. It is as if he is playing chess with tariffs for various geopolitical benefits (energy, rare earths, real estate deals for his family, etc.).

If his advisors see how a new 1929 is about to begin, then he will take them back immediately. Or, it may be too late, because a new global recession will have begun. Perhaps, then, it will be too late. But again, “the tariff game” is a tool for reshaping American hegemony in the world. And it is certainly also a means of redistributing wealth, especially if the “difficult reindustrialization” is achieved. (Note: At some point, after many hours, he paused tariffs on many countries, but left tariffs on China, raising them, first to 125% and later to 145%!)

Ultimately, tariffs are “psychological ash” in the eyes of the country’s friends and enemies, and a temporary psychological solution for Americans. Will they ever react? Perhaps, after a year, strong reactions will begin to arise with what he is doing, when the poor, pensioners and the lower classes will have been mainly affected by the increases in consumer goods… That is, those who helped him get elected!

Until then, the elite and many Americans (thankfully not all) will have fun, loving their Emperor…FacebookTwitterRedditEmail

Dimitris Eleas is a political scientist, writer and researcher living in New York. You can contact him at: dimitris.eleas@gmail.com. Read other articles by Dimitris.