China’s Xi says there are ‘no winners’ in tariff war as he visits South-east Asia
Although Donald Trump has paused some tariffs, China was the outlier, as he has kept in place 145% tariffs on the world’s second-largest economy.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has said no one wins in a trade war as he kicked off a diplomatic tour of south-east Asia, presenting China as a force for stability in contrast with Donald Trump’s latest moves on tariffs,
Although the US president has paused some tariffs, he has kept 145% duties on China, the world’s second-largest economy.
“There are no winners in a trade war, or a tariff war,” Mr Xi wrote in an editorial jointly published in Vietnamese and Chinese official media.
“Our two countries should resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and co-operative international environment.”
Mr Xi’s visit lets China show south-east Asia it is a “responsible superpower”, in contrast with the US under Mr Trump, said Nguyen Khac Giang, a visiting fellow at Singapore’s ISEAS–Yusof Ishak Institute.
While Mr Trump has said he respects Mr Xi, he interpreted the meeting between the two Asian leaders as a sign they were attempting to put the US at a disadvantage on trade.
Talking to reporters in the Oval Office, he said China and Vietnam were trying “to figure out how do we screw the United States of America”.
Mr Xi was greeted on the tarmac in Hanoi by Vietnam’s President Luong Cuong at the start of his two-day visit, a mark of honour not often given to visitors, said Nguyen Thanh Trung, a professor of Vietnamese studies at Fulbright University Vietnam.
Students of a drum art group performed as women waved the red and yellow Chinese and Communist Party flags.
The trip has become significant because of the tariff fight between China and the US, and offers a path for Beijing to shore up its alliances and find solutions for the high trade barrier the US has imposed.
Mr Xi met Vietnam’s Communist Party general secretary To Lam and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.
The two sides signed a series of memorandums in areas including strengthening co-operation in supply chains, railway development and environmental protection, according to Associated Press footage of the signed documents.
Nhan Dan, the official mouthpiece of Vietnam’s Communist Party, said China and Vietnam will speed up an 8 billion dollar (£6 billion) railway project connecting the two countries in a deal that was approved in February.
The timing of the visit sends a “strong political message that south-east Asia is important to China”, said Huong Le-Thu of the International Crisis Group think tank.
She said that given the severity of Mr Trump’s tariffs and despite the 90-day pause, south-east Asian nations were anxious that the tariffs could complicate their development.
Vietnam is experienced at balancing its relations with Washington and Beijing. It is run under a communist, one-party system like China but has had a strong relationship with the US.
In 2023, it was the only country that received then US president Joe Biden and Mr Xi. That year it also upgraded the US to its highest diplomatic level, the same as China and Russia.
After Vietnam, Mr Xi is expected to go to Malaysia and Cambodia.
