Beijing/IBNS: Days after reaching out to India for support, Chinese President Xi Jinping has appealed to the European Union to stand together against the "unilateral bullying" by US President Donald Trump, who slapped 145 percent tariffs on the South Asian giant.

Jinping said this as he met Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez in Beijing.

"China and Europe should fulfil their international responsibilities... and jointly resist unilateral bullying practices," said the Chinese President as quoted by NDTV.

Jinping said this will "safeguard legitimate rights and interests... but also safeguard international fairness and justice".

Sanchez said the trade tension between China and the European countries should not impede cooperation with Jinping's country.

"Spain and Europe have a significant trade deficit with China...," Sanchez said and added as quoted by the news outlet, "But we must not let trade tensions stand in the way of the potential growth of our relationships."

Trump's steep tariff hike on Chinese goods took effect on Thursday, bringing the US' additional rate on many products to 145 percent, the White House confirmed.

On Wednesday, Trump announced a 90-day hold on tariffs for all other countries except China. The order came to effect on Thursday.

After the US raised tariffs on China to 104 percent, Beijing retaliated, announcing that it would impose a levy of 84 percent on US imports, up from 34 percent, marking a significant escalation of the tariff trade war between the countries.

The US counter-strike was swift, with Trump announcing that he was raising tariffs on China even further- to 125 percent - effective immediately.

This takes the total tariffs Trump has imposed on Chinese products this year to 145 percent, adding all existing levies from past administrations.

But the latest 125 percent figure on China contains some exclusions.

It excludes products like steel and aluminum imports, as well as autos, on which Trump slapped separate 25 percent tariffs under separate regimes.

The high levy does not apply to goods such as copper, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber, and energy products, some of which Trump has signaled plans to target separately.

China's India outreach

Yu Jing, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy, on Wednesday sent out a message for New Delhi stating India and China, who share a relationship based on "complementarity and mutual benefits", should overcome the "difficulties" together.

In a long X post, Yu Jing said, "China's economy is underpinned by a system that ensures steady growth, and produces positive spillovers. Chinese manufacturing is built on a complete and continually upgrading industrial system, sustained investment in R&D, and a strong focus on innovation.

"China is a firm defender of economic globalization and multilateralism, which has injected strong impetus into the world economy, contributing to around 30 percent of global growth annually on average. We will continue to work with the rest of the world to safeguard the multilateral trade system with the World Trade Organization (WTO) at its core."

The spokesperson added, "China-India economic and trade relationship is based on complimentarity and mutual benefit. Facing the U.S. abuse of tariffs, which deprives countries, especially Global South countries, of their right to development, the two largest developing countries should stand together to overcome the difficulties.

"Trade and tariff wars have no winners. All countries should uphold the principles of extensive consultation, practice true multilateralism, jointly oppose all forms of unilateralism and protectionism."