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• Tue Apr 15 2025

China's Xi urges Vietnam to oppose 'bullying' as Trump mulls more tariffs

22 hours ago Share Save Annabelle Liang Business reporter Share Save

Getty Images Xi started his South East Asia trip in Vietnam

China's President Xi Jinping has called on Vietnam to oppose "unilateral bullying" to upkeep a global system of free trade - though he stopped short of naming the US. It comes as Xi is on a so called "charm offensive" trip across South East Asia, which will also see him visit Malaysia and Cambodia. Though the trip was long-planned, it has taken on heightened significance in the wake of a mounting trade war between the US and China. Vietnam was facing US tariffs of up to 46% before the Trump administration issued a 90-day pause last week. US President Donald Trump called Xi's meeting with Vietnamese leaders a ploy to figure out how to "screw the United States of America".

According to state media outlet Xinhua, Xi told Vietnam's Communist Party Secretary-General To Lam to "jointly oppose unilateral bullying". "We must strengthen strategic resolve... and uphold the stability of the global free trade system as well as industrial and supply chains," he said. Stephen Olson, a former US trade negotiator, said Xi's comments were "a very shrewd tactical move". "While Trump seems determined to blow up the trade system, Xi is positioning China as the defender of rules-based trade, while painting the US as a reckless rogue nation," he added. Speaking to reporters in the Oval office on Monday, Trump said he does not "blame" China or Vietnam but alleged that they were focused on how to harm the US. "That's a lovely meeting. Meeting like, trying to figure out, how do we screw the United States of America?" said Trump. The world's two largest economies are locked in an escalating trade battle, with the Trump administration putting tariffs of 145% on most Chinese imports earlier this month. Beijing later responded with its own 125% tariffs on American products coming into China. On Saturday, a US customs notice revealed smartphones, computers and some other electronic devices would be excluded from the 125% tariff on goods entering the country from China. But Trump later chimed in on social media saying there was no exemption for these products and called such reports about this notice false. Instead, he said that "they are just moving to a different tariff 'bucket'".

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