“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