Inside China’s Xi and diplomats plan to turn the world against the US as Trump cuts trade deals

China is reportedly conducting a global diplomatic campaign to oppose President Donald Trump’s new trade deals with US allies. According to a Bloomberg report on Tuesday, Beijing is trying to reframe itself as a global rules-based order defender and make other countries see Washington as an unreliable trading partner.

President Xi Jinping is unhappy about a 90-day window Trump has granted to nations, excluding China, to negotiate trade agreements without facing immediate tariff hikes. Chinese officials, aware that the move is designed to give the US leverage in future negotiations, are warning other nations that Trump is using a “divide and conquer” strategy to pit countries against Beijing. 

Diplomats aligned with President Xi Jinping have traveled to several capitals, urging leaders not to fall for Trump’s proposals. According to officials, the United States cannot be trusted and is an economic “bully.” 

China has more to bargain now, America wants to take that away

China’s government appears confident it can absorb the economic shock of tariffs better than smaller economies. Since Trump’s last trade war, Beijing has invested in diversifying its supply chains and strengthening internal markets. 

President Xi has so far resisted direct engagement with Trump, demanding that the US take the first step toward de-escalation by lifting tariffs. Chinese officials are calling their resistance a defense of the global economic system, not merely national interest. 

“This is not just about China-US,” said Wu Xinbo, director at Fudan University’s Center for American Studies. “It is really about the international trade and economic system.”

Wu, who previously led a Foreign Ministry delegation to Washington, argues China’s defiance has created breathing room for other countries. 

“If China hadn’t stood up to the US, how would the US give them a 90-day pause?” he asked, calling on nations to recognize the benefit Beijing has afforded them.

In Brazil, top Chinese diplomat Wang Yi urged the BRICS nations to resist Trump’s economic demands. “If you choose to remain silent, compromise and retreat, it will only allow the bully to become more aggressive,” he said.

China’s Foreign Ministry later released an English-subtitled video calling the United States “an imperialist force.” The film mentioned historical examples, such as US restrictions on Japanese exports that hurt firms such as Toshiba. 

Mixed reception from regional outreach

Some US allies within the European Union bloc have opposed Trump’s tariffs, but they are not rushing to align with China. They are worried China will dump cheap goods into European markets, with no access to the US economy. At a recent G7 summit, finance ministers asked China to address its domestic imbalances and avoid escalating the dispute.

India is supposedly the first nation to make the most progress in securing a US trade deal. It is reportedly negotiating a pact that spans 19 sectors, including agriculture, albeit cautiously.

Back home, citizens want Xi and his government to deliver results. Although not constrained by elections, China is facing a rise in youth unemployment and a stubborn property crisis that doesn’t seem to go away, even with dozens of policy changes. Beijing state media is encouraging citizens to “weather storms together.”

“The sky will not fall,” reckoned one government official.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang recently contacted Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba to help Beijing fight US tariffs. To his relief, Japanese officials have been reluctant to join any American-led bloc against China, their largest trading partner.

Lower-level Chinese delegations have also been dispatched to scout new export markets. Provincial officials have been tasked with building trade relationships abroad, especially in Latin American countries like Argentina.

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