Overview

The 2025 United States and China Trade War, also known as 2025 U.S. vs. China Tariff War or Donald Trump Trade War, refers to an ongoing trade dispute surrounding United States President Donald Trump's reciprocal tariffs and Chinese President Xi Jinping's response with equal tariffs on all U.S. goods, resulting in heightened political tensions between China and the U.S. in early April 2025. The two countries have previously been involved in trade wars and disputes, however, the 2025 events sparked considerable controversy and countless debates, memes, jokes and various ironic content across Twitter / X, Instagram, TikTok and Reddit. On April 8th, Trump imposed a 104 percent tariff on all Chinese imports, which was answered by the Chinese with retaliatory tariffs of 84 percent on imports of U.S. products as the trade war continued escalating on both sides.

Background

On April 4th, 2025, China announced a 34 percent tariff on all U.S. goods in response to United States President Donald Trump's contentious reciprocal tariffs of the same percentage, which were previously revealed on April 2nd, 2025.

Also on April 4th, X^[1] user and Chinese journalist Shen Shiwei (@shen_shiwei) posted the statement of the Customs Tariff Commission of the State Council^[2] in which it announced the retaliatory tariff, amassing roughly 144,000 views and 1,700 likes in a week.

On April 7th, 2025, Donald Trump escalated trade tensions further by threatening to impose additional tariffs on China via a post on his Truth Social platform, writing, "China issued Retaliatory Tariffs of 34%, on top of their already record setting Tariffs, Non-Monetary Tariffs, Illegal Subsidization of companies, and massive long term Currency Manipulation, despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional Tariffs, above and beyond their already existing long term Tariff of our Nation, will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs, over and above those initially set."

President Trump's full post was later shared on X^[3] by the @TrumpDailyPosts account, amassing over 9 million views and 45,000 likes in three days.

Developments

Donald Trump's 104 Percent Retaliatory Tariff on China

On April 8th, 2025, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed that a 104 percent tariff on China took effect, alleging that the Asian country failed to lift its 34 percent retaliatory tariff by the deadline.^[12]

X^[4] user @WatcherGuru posted a clip showing United States President Donald Trump commenting on the retaliatory tariffs, saying the country has "ripped us off left and right. But now it's our turn to do the ripping." The video received more than 669,000 views and 9,300 likes in a day.

JUST IN: 🇺🇸🇨🇳 President Trump says China has "ripped us off left and right. But now it's our turn to do the rippin." pic.twitter.com/8IUPWMsU2c

— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) April 9, 2025

China's 84 Percent Retaliatory Tariff On U.S.

On April 9th, 2025, China then announced retaliatory tariffs of 84 percent on imports of U.S. goods as a response to Trump's 104 percent retaliatory tariff. CNN^[5] posted a video covering the events of the U.S.-China trade war (seen below), which amassed over 341,000 views and 8,300 likes in a few hours.

Online Reactions

The U.S.-China tariff war sparked numerous and heated debates on social media as netizens speculated on the impacts of the trade war between the two superpower countries in early April 2025.

For instance, on April 8th, 2025, X^[6] user @SpoxCHN_LinJian posted an image featuring a quote from China's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian, writing, "China is not a seeker of conflict." The tweet (seen below) amassed over 3.5 million views and 42,000 likes in a day.

On April 9th, 2025, TikTok^[7] user @steveneugenekuhn posted a conspiracy theory video claiming the U.S.-China trade war could be a "part of something bigger." The video received roughly 24,000 plays and 1,200 likes in a few hours.

@steveneugenekuhn What if the China trade war… isn’t a war at all? What if it’s a setup--to break the global system from the inside? Not fiction. Just a different lens. #Geopolitics #TradeWar #TrumpStrategy #GlobalReset #ThinkForYourself #BehindTheScenes #tarrifs @Patrick Bet-David @Tucker Carlson @Shawn Ryan Show ♬ original sound – Steven Eugene Kuhn

The tariff war also inspired netizens to post memes and jokes about the conflict, including a tweet shared on April 8th, 2025, by the official Russian Embassy in Kenya X account,^[8] which posted an object-labeling meme depicting a man reclining and smoking as "Russia" while the U.S., European Union and China flags are below him, semeengly fighting. The tweet is captioned "tariff war," receiving more than 1 million views and 31,000 likes in a day.

China vs. U.S. Meme War

In parallel to the tariff exchanges between the U.S. and China, various AI-generated videos were published on Douyin (Chinese TikTok) accounts that mocked the fat Americans stereotype. The memes gained viral attention between April 7th and 9th, 2025, igniting a meme war on social media and garnering media coverage.^[13]

For example, TikTok^[9] user @axiang67 posted on Douyin a video depicting schlubby Americans working in clothing factories, which was later reposted on April 7th, 2025, by X^[9] user @gaborgurbacs, amassing over 17 million views and 215,000 likes in two days.

Chinese memes on American re-industrialization rolling in. lol the music. 😂 pic.twitter.com/GZE2jHDgWZ

— Gabor Gurbacs (@gaborgurbacs) April 7, 2025

On April 9th, 2025, the Daily Mail^[10] tabloid reported that other Chinese accounts jumped on the viral meme war, posting AI-generated videos and images mocking the tariffs and American citizens.

Social media users from the U.S. also joined the trend, such as X^[11] user @batches_, who posted an AI image of President Trump and Vice President J.D. Vance on April 7th working in a garmet factory (seen below), which garnered more than 114,000 views and 2,500 likes in two days.

Search Interest

External References

china tariffs reciprocal tariffs war economy trading trade war usa us china trading war trading war tariff war china united states trade war meme us china memes politics donald trump xi jinping united states