Accounts linked to Chinese state media and government officials are using content created with artificial intelligence to ridicule US trade policy in the context of the trade war between Washington and Beijing.
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One of the most shared images shows Donald Trump and Elon Musk wearing blue overalls on a production line, supposedly assembling Nike sneakers in an American factory.
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What is the origin of these videos against Trump and his tariffs?
The series of videos and memes, widely spread on social media platforms like TikTok, X, and Instagram, specifically target Trump’s slogan, “Make America Great Again,” while poking fun at the rising prices of products due to the new tariffs.
AI simulations focus on Trump and Musk, as well as obese American citizens working in the factories that the Republican president hopes to attract with tariffs on its main trading partners. They also show imported items with tax rates of up to 125%.
Some memes were spread by Chinese government officials.
A compilation of these videos, made by a Chinese channel, also includes a scene of Vice President JD Vance assembling an iPhone. In the image, he appears wearing denim clothes and a red cap without the classic “MAGA” inscription, in a clear reference to President Trump’s policies.
In another piece shared by Mao Ning, the spokesperson for the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, red hats with the phrase “Made in China” are displayed with a price increase of 27 dollars compared to the usual value, as they are produced in the Asian giant. Ning’s comments accompanied the implementation of the 104% tariffs set by Trump against Chinese products.
“We are Chinese. We do not fear provocations. We do not step back,” wrote Ning.
More AI-generated memes were shared by the Beijing Business Daily, mocking the taxes on the Heard and McDonald Islands, territories without humans, with penguins wearing modified caps that said “Make America Go Away.”
The satirical content has been replicated by millions of users. Among the most viral is a TikTok video posted by creator Ben Lau, where it shows overweight American citizens working exhaustively in factories, accompanied by traditional Chinese music.
The trade war is a tit-for-tat.
China announced on Friday that it will increase tariffs on U.S. products from 84% to 125% starting on Saturday, intensifying a new trade war with the escalation of mutually applied tariffs.
Beijing had said it would fight US tariffs with its own countermeasures and labeled Donald Trump’s actions as “economic harassment,” leading the Republican president to retaliate by continuously raising tariffs this week.
China is one of the main suppliers of goods to the United States, second only to Mexico.