Chinese social media users have turned the trade war into a meme war: Batman assembles equipment, while Trump and Vance sew caps

One of the most viral memes that has crossed over to an American audience on sites like TikTok and X shows Americans in T-shirts with sad faces sewing clothes in a factory or assembling cell phones on an assembly line, Business Insider writes .

The video above has been viewed over 7 million times on X and shared over 34,000 times on TikTok. Traditional Chinese music plays in the background, and Trump's slogan "Make America Great Again" appears at the end of the video.

The memes play up concerns that Trump's hefty tariffs on China and his repeated calls to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign goods and support American manufacturing will hurt ordinary Americans and be potentially regressive.

Recall that Trump suspended tariffs for other trading partners for 90 days, tariffs for China are now 125%.

“When you wanted to bring back manufacturing jobs in the US but lost your well-paying, cushy PowerPoint/Excel job and now have to step on an assembly line,” wrote one user on X over a screenshot of the White Lotus heroine Piper, who can’t stand the living conditions in Thailand.

Fears that white-collar workers will soon have to work in factories are based on comments from politicians such as US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessant, who said on the Tucker Carlson show last Friday that laid-off office workers could find jobs in manufacturing "to reboot the private sector."

"So what we're doing is, on the one hand, the president is changing the rules of trade. On the other hand, we're laying off excess labor in the federal government and cutting federal spending," Bessent said. "And on the other hand, we're getting the labor that's needed for the new manufacturing."

They didn't forget about penguins from the Australian islands, which were also subject to tariffs. On the Chinese Rednote network, AI-generated penguins in red "Make America Go away" caps, armed with weapons, are participating in a mass protest against Trump.

Earlier, dev.ua reported that Chinese sellers on Amazon are planning to raise prices or leave the US due to rising tariffs. Wang Xin, chairman of the Shenzhen Cross-Border E-Commerce Association, noted that the increase in customs tariffs will seriously affect small businesses and manufacturers in China, which could lead to a rapid increase in unemployment.

Trump has said he's willing to lower tariffs on countries in exchange for something "phenomenal." For example, China's approval of the sale of TikTok

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Trump has said he's willing to lower tariffs on countries in exchange for something "phenomenal." For example, China's approval of the sale of TikTok

With his new tariffs, Trump has cut off Americans from access to super-cheap goods from China. For Temu, this is a possible loss of over 180 million consumers, and for the US, such a change could cost up to $13 billion annually.

On the topic

With his new tariffs, Trump has cut off Americans from access to super-cheap goods from China. For Temu, this is a possible loss of over 180 million consumers, and for the US, such a change could cost up to $13 billion annually.

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