China Censors Content Related To Trump Tariffs On Social Media, US Criticism Is Increasing

US President Donald Trump signed the imposition of import tariffs (photo: x @WhiteHouse)

JAKARTA - The Chinese government began censoring a number of content related to Trump's rates on social media on Wednesday, April 9, after a "reciprocal" rate from the United States against dozens of countries came into effect. This includes 104% import duty on products from China. Meanwhile, uploads criticizing the US are actually the most viewed content.

Searches and hashtags such as tariffs' and 104 are mostly blocked on the Weibo social media platform, with search pages displaying fault messages. On the other hand, hashtags such as those that insinuate that the US is experiencing a shortage of eggs actually enter the ranks of the most popular content. State-owned broadcasters, CCTV, even created a hashtag America Experiences the War of Panggan and the Lack of Channels.

America has touted high-style tariff sticks, charging tariffs on steel and aluminum products from the European Union... but quietly sent a letter to European countries, asking for a very urgent supply of eggs, wrote CCTV on Weibo.

Sensors also occurred on the WeChat platform, where a number of uploads from Chinese companies criticizing the negative impact of US President Donald Trump's tariff policy were removed by the platform. All posts are labeled contents suspected of violating applicable laws, regulations and policies'.

The Beijing government announced its retaliatory rates against the US last week and pledged to fight any form of economic pressure it deems extortion. Chinese internet sensors have also allowed sarcastic comments against the US to spread widely on social media, describing America as an irresponsible trading partner on the global stage. This is seen as part of China's preparations for a long-term trade battle with the world's largest economies.

China is in strict control of its domestic internet through a system known as Great Firewall', where foreign platforms such as Instagram and X (formerly Twitter) are blocked. This system creates a market dominated by domestic alternatives such as Weibo and WeChat.

Beijing's attorney, Pang Jiulin, who has more than 10.5 million followers on Weibo, said that China's share of exports to the US is likely to be quickly replaced by countries like Vietnam and India, as well as Chinese companies will miss the opportunity to keep exporting to the American market.

"In the face of US economic aggression, China has no choice but to 'fight until the end'," he said. "If China also raises fares by 104%, then the prices of US goods such as Apple and Tesla products will soar, and the Chinese people will pay more expensive for their favorite American goods."

However, retaliating at tariffs or export controls may not be very effective, as China's export volume to the US triples from about $160 billion (IDR2,711 quadrillion) of goods imported from the US. However, for Beijing, it may be the only option if they feel they have a higher threshold of pain than Washington.

China's stock market fell on Monday 7 April, with the Shanghai Composite Index dropping 7% worst day of the last five years. However, the stock exchange managed to recover on Wednesday 9 April thanks to the country's promise of support for the local market.

China's famous Commissioner, Hu Xijin, called Trump's team's tariff policy "absolutely irrational".

They are at war not only with the whole world, but also with the basic rules of human society, so their chances of winning are zero, Hu said. Their reciprocal tariffs will be fed to a pole of shame in history to be laughed at by future generations. "