Trump administration officials have introduced tariffs to promote U.S. manufacturing and create more high-paying jobs. But small business owners in the United States paint a very different picture on Tiktok. In one video, the founder of a stylish hairstyle brand rolled his eyes and explained that the company’s products “literally cannot be made here.” In another case, the CEO of a shoe company likewise said China is “just the only place I can make.” The owner of a company that makes self-checking booths is about how bad his experience with the U.S. has worked with suppliers compared to China. He told the camera: “Americans are a bunch of babies and it’s hard to work with them.”
The founder of London’s clothing brand put forward a more heart-warming tone, uploading slideshows of photos of clothing workers posing in China set to Fray Song “Beading off your You”. The text covered in one photo reads “Our victory is their victory.” The Tiktok Post received over 55,000 likes compared to the past, indicating how attitudes towards China evolved among at least some Western consumers, when factories in the country were primarily associated with drawing out cheap, fragile goods. “Suddenly people see, oh, oh, not the imagined ‘slave labor’ is making my clothes, it’s actually humans,” said Tianyu Fang, a guy from the New American think tank and co-founder of Chaoyang Trap, the China Internet Culture Newsletter.
In recent weeks, as the Trump administration’s ever-changing trade policies have angered close allies like Canada, many prominent commentators have even begun to show that the era of American exceptionalism may be over. They believe that the next few decades will be defined by the rise of China.
“The Chinese century, brought to you by Donald Trump,” said Atlantic staff writer David Frum, former speaker George W. Bush, and George W. Bush, its title is “I just see the future. It’s not in the United States.”
“When people say it’s the Chinese century, they really mean that it’s going to be a consensus that the American century was broken,” Fang said.
Growing influence
When Trump’s most comprehensive tariffs resulted in a nose-like attitude global stock markets earlier this week, Darren Watkins, an influencer on social media influential American Darren Watkins Jr. Watkins spent days live streaming mixed with Chinese celebrities and boating with Hong Kong’s glittering skyline as a backdrop. Through live broadcasts, fans of Ishowspeed got an “unprecedented opportunity” of “Unfiltered China.”
Earlier this year, many Americans caught a direct glimpse inside China again. Expect the app to disappear soon, with thousands flocking to Rednote, another Chinese-owned social media app, where they see Chinese posts showing off their home electric cars and comfortable city apartments. Tiktok itself was created by Chinese tech giants, a testament to China’s growing soft power. Trump vowed to save the app, and despite warnings from U.S. lawmakers about the data security risks it poses, Americans support banning the app is less risky than they did a few years ago.
