Xi says 'bullying' will backfire, 1 day after tariff truce with US

China’s President Xi Jinping said President Trump’s trade policy would backfire, a day after U.S. and Chinese negotiators signed a deal to lower mounting tariffs. 

“There are no winners in tariff wars or trade wars. Bullying or hegemonism only leads to self-isolation,” Xi said during a Tuesday speech, according to a transcript from state-sponsored media outlet Xinhua.

He added that unity and cooperation among nations were “indispensable for safeguarding” global peace and stability.

Treasury Department Secretary Scott Bessent said the highest tariffs imposed by Xi and Trump were “the equivalent of an embargo, and neither side wants that. We do want trade.”

Bessent worked alongside U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer to strike a deal with Chinese counterparts Monday that amounted to each side reducing tariffs on the other by 115 percentage points.

Tariffs on Chinese imports will drop from 145 percent to 30 percent, while Beijing’s tax on American imports is set to soften from 125 percent to 10 percent. 

In his Tuesday speech in Beijing at a summit of Latin American and Caribbean leaders, Xi shared a five-point plan to increase partnership with those countries.

Last year, trade between China and Latin American and Caribbean nations exceeded $500 billion for the first time, an increase of more than 40 times from the beginning of this century, according to Xi.

China has also signed free trade agreements with Chile, Peru, Costa Rica, Ecuador and Nicaragua.

“We uphold solidarity and coordination and rise to global challenges with resolve. Together, China and LAC countries champion true multilateralism, uphold international fairness and justice, advance global governance reform, and promote multipolarization of the world and greater democracy in international relations,” Xi said, promising to advance their collective efforts amid a trade war with the U.S., according to a Xinhua transcript.