Chinese leader Xi Jinping declared his nation was "not afraid" of the trade war president Donald Trump was waging and raised its tariffs on U.S. imports to 125 percent, and CNN's Marc Stewart said China's comments seemed to be "making fun" of the American leader.
Trump has raised tariffs on China to 145 percent, but China has indicated it won't go higher than 125 percent, saying it would be pointless to escalate any further, and the international correspondent told "CNN News Central" that Xi's first public remarks on the trade war stood out as particularly provocative.
"Look, none of this is a surprise," Stewart said. "These latest tariffs are very much in the Chinese playbook, but what's very attention-getting to me is the fact that China is now saying it's not going to raise tariffs any higher, saying it has other weapons – almost making fun of the United States for raising the stakes, raising the number so high. Let me share with you some remarks we got late today from a government official here in Beijing who said that the United States is engaging in nothing more than a numbers game with no real economic significance, going on to say the United States is exposing itself as a participant in 'weaponizing tariffs as a tool of bullying and coercion, turning itself into a joke.'"
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"So that is the latest where China stands in this back-and-forth tit-for-tat," Stewart continued. "The other big headline of the day is that we are hearing from Chinese president Xi Jinping, really the first time since this whole trade war escalated to such a high level. The big headline is that he is saying China is 'not afraid.' These are remarks that were made with the Spanish prime minister here in Beijing, and according to state media, he said that China is going to continue to remain confident, it's going to remain focused, saying there are no real winners in a trade war."
"The language that we're hearing from Xi Jinping is very consistent with what we've heard from other government officials over the last few days, and as you mentioned, as far as the possibility of a phone call between Xi Jinping and president Trump, not in the near future," Stewart added. "That's the messaging that we're feeling from Beijing, at least."
CNN's Kate Bolduan agreed with Stewart, saying that Chinese officials seemed to be goading Trump.
"That is quite a statement that you got from that government official," Bolduan said. "I mean, the gloves are off now in terms of how the two sides are going to be talking about it. We will need to stand by and see how Donald Trump responds to that."
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