Welcome to trade war TikTok
As the US's tariffs on goods from China have stacked up to 145%, the trade war between the US and China is the hot topic on TikTok right now.
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- The trade war between the US and China is the hot topic on TikTok.
- Manufacturers in China are touting their brands on TikTok, while US businesses lament rising costs.
- This comes as the US's tariffs on goods from China have stacked up to 145%.
The trade war between the US and China is the topic du jour, and a scroll through TikTok will tell you as much.
The social media platform — which itself faces a looming divest-or-ban deadline in the US — is ripe with videos relating to the rapidly escalating trade war.
After days of heated back-and-forth retaliations, the US tariffs on goods from China total 145% as of Thursday.
The tone of TikTok users on the two sides of the trade war is starkly different.
Chinese manufacturers
Some Asian TikTok users have been criticizing Western brands while touting the quality of products made by Chinese factories.
While it is unclear where these TikTok users were posting from, their videos contain proud endorsements of China-made products that they say are essential to the supply chains of Western companies.
TikTok user Lunasourcingchina, in particular, has several videos talking about the Chinese suppliers behind brands like Sephora and Zara.
@lunasourcingchina Meet suppliers behind behind Dior! #SourcingChina #LuxurySuppliers #chinasourcing #sourcingtips #sourcingagent #yiwuagent #yiwuminigoods #yiwumarkets #Lunasourcingchina #chinasource #christiandior #Dior #sandro #maje #armani #Maxmara #packaging #cosmetic #factory#chinashipping #wholesale #alibaba #directfactory #chinasupplier ♬ original sound - LunaSourcingChina
Senbags, who says he is a custom bag maker from Guangzhou, China, jumped on the tariff TikTok bandwagon, promoting his business. He also said that the quality of his bags could match those sold by Western luxury brands.
His TikTok video has been viewed 2.7 million times as of press time.
@senbags Focus on high-quality leather and high-quality craftsmanship. ♬ 原聲 - SEN bag
Another TikTok user, Gonest_lily, posted advice on getting Chinese goods into the US without paying high import fees.
@gonest_lily How We Bypass a 145% Tariff — Without Breaking the Law #Gonest #GonestChinaFreightForwarding #business #tariff #usa ♬ original sound - Lily-China Freight Forwarding
US business owners worried about rising costs
Over in the US, business owners are complaining about the tariffs, posting videos on TikTok about how the levies will hurt their companies.
TikTok user Chelsey Brown, who owns a small business selling home goods, posted a TikTok last week saying she would have to temporarily close down her shop because of the tariffs.
"We have one last shipment on the way. It's not subject to the new 145% tariff, but we still have to pay the 54% tariff on it—and that alone will wipe out the rest of our cash," she wrote in the caption.
@chelseyibrown Curio Blvd is temporarily closing due to the tariffs. We have one last shipment on the way. It’s not subject to the new 145% tariff, but we still have to pay the 54% tariff on it—and that alone will wipe out the rest of our cash. The rest of our inventory is already designed and manufactured, but it’s sitting at our factory because we can’t afford to bring it over with these new tariff rates ???? If you’re new here, I started this brand after years of returning lost heirlooms—Holocaust letters, war diaries, love notes—to families who thought they were gone forever. That work inspired me to create meaningful home goods and keepsakes for people navigating grief, loss, and illness. If you pre-ordered the Keepsake Case, the E2, the photo album, or the bedding line, don’t worry—those are either already in stock or arriving on the ship that’s currently en route. Once something is truly out of stock, we’ll be taking down the pre-order option, and you simply won’t be able to place an order anymore. If you’re able to order now, that means we still have it. But once it says sold out, that means there’s nothing else on the way. We haven’t raised our prices over the last few weeks because we still want people going through grief, loss, or illness to be able to access these products. At this point, once I pay the tariff, all of our cash is gone—and raising prices now wouldn’t fix what’s already happened. So I’m keeping the code CURIO20 live for 20% off, for as long as we can ❤️???? #tariffs #tariff #smallbusiness ♬ original sound - Chelsey Brown
Beth Pratt, a Denver-based baker who sources her cookie packaging from a company in Shanghai, told BI the tariffs would "100%" affect her.
"Yes, I buy my bags from China, which means my business is being impacted by the tariffs imposed by the current administration," Pratt said in a video on TikTok.
Andrew Chan, a small fashion business founder of 3sixteen, took to TikTok on April 4 to talk about how Trump's tariffs will likely increase costs and uncertainty for his business and lead to the potential deterioration of its overseas market.
"We're most concerned about Japan because all of our denim is woven there, and then it's brought over to the States where we cut and sew them into jeans and jackets," he said in the video. Japan was hit with a 24% tariff on April 9.
A rapidly escalating trade war
On April 2, President Donald Trump announced reciprocal tariffs on over 180 countries on what he called "Liberation Day."
A baseline rate of 10% went into effect on April 5. A higher set of tariffs that varied by country took effect on Wednesday, but Trump said on the same day that he was pausing them by 90 days.
The pause, however, does not apply to China. Trump had already imposed a 20% tariff on China last month. He announced a 34% reciprocal tariff on April 2 and has hiked the number to 145%.
China has retaliated with a 125% tariff on US imports.
On Friday, US Customs and Border Protection said certain tech products, such as smartphones and computers, are exempt from the recently announced tariffs.
But Trump said on Sunday that tariffs on tech products may still be imposed later.
"There was no Tariff 'exception' announced on Friday. These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff 'bucket,'" Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday.
China's commerce ministry said on Sunday that Trump should stop imposing reciprocal tariffs on countries.
"We urge the US to heed the rational voices of the international community and its domestic stakeholders, take a big step to correct its mistakes, completely abolish the erroneous practice of 'reciprocal tariffs,' and return to the right path of resolving differences through mutual respect and dialogue," the statement said.
