“Xi will not be forced into a call,” said Sun Yun, director of the China program at the Washington-based think tank Stimson Center. Only once in recent history, she noted, has a Chinese leader phoned the United States without invitation — after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The trade tensions, if unchecked, could spill into other domains, she warned.

China is reaching out to other nations as the U.S. layers on tariffs, in what appears to be an attempt by Beijing to form a united front to compel Washington to retreat

Beijing increased its tariffs on U.S. imports to 125% on Friday, hitting back against President Donald Trump's decision to raise duties on Chinese goods and upping the stakes in a trade war that threatens to upend global supply chains.

The U.S. and China have escalated trade war by raising tariffs even as Trump hit a pause on tariffs for other countries.

The trade war between the world’s two largest economies is escalating as China slapped a 125% tariff on U.S. goods in response to President Donald Trump’s 145% tariff on Chinese products

China hiked its levies on imports of U.S. goods to 125% on Friday, hitting back at Donald Trump's decision to single out the world's No.2 economy for higher duties, while dismissing the U.S. president's tariff strategy as "a joke.

Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said his nation is “not afraid” in his first public comments on the escalating trade war with the US that has tanked international markets and fueled fears of a global recession.

President Donald Trump's trade war rattled global markets anew on Thursday as stocks and oil prices sank amid fears China may once again respond in kind with higher tariffs to match the latest levies imposed by the United States.