Chinese leader Xi Jinping has said his nation is “not afraid,” in his first public comment on the escalating trade war with the United States, as Beijing raised tariffs on US goods to 125%.

Beijing expressed weariness with the repeated rounds of increases that threaten to make much of the trade between the world’s two biggest economies grind to a halt.

Beijing’s retaliation came after the White House ratcheted up its tariff on Chinese goods to 125 percent, on top of an existing 20 percent tax.