China Censors Tariff-Related Posts on Social Media

Social media posts criticizing the United States were top hits.

Hashtags and searches for “tariff” or the number “104” were mostly blocked on social media platform Weibo, with pages showing an error message.

Negative posts about the United States, particularly those mentioning an egg shortage, were among the most viewed on Weibo. State broadcaster CCTV even started a hashtag “#UShastradewarandaneggshortage.”

The United States is “waving the tariff stick in a high profile manner, imposing tariffs on EU steel and aluminum products… but also writing letters to European countries in a low voice, urgently asking for eggs,” state-run outlet CCTV wrote in a post on Weibo.

The censorship extended to WeChat, where a wide range of posts from Chinese companies that highlighted the negative impact of the U.S. tariffs were simply taken down by the platform.

The censored posts were all marked by the blanket label that the “content was suspected of violating relevant laws, regulations, and policies.”

Chinese internet censors have permitted a surge of posts mocking the United States on social media, portraying it as an irresponsible global trade partner. Meanwhile, the CCP is positioning itself for a broader trade confrontation with the world’s largest economy.

The internet in China is closely guarded by the CCP’s “Great Firewall,” an information arbiter designed to censor content considered harmful to national interests. Major foreign social media platforms including Instagram and X are blocked, as domestic alternatives operate strictly monitored under the CCP.

“If China also increases tariffs to 104 percent … Chinese will pay a greater price for their favorite American goods,” Pang said.

He argued that if Americans stopped buying Chinese-made goods, those exports would quickly be replaced by countries such as Vietnam and India.

Beijing announced counter-tariffs on the United States last week and has vowed to fight what it considers “blackmail.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent called the CCP’s decision to escalate the tariffs a “big mistake” in light of the United States’s enormous trade deficit with the Asian nation.

Chinese stocks dropped on Monday with the Shanghai Composite Index down 7 percent, its worst day in five years, but it closed higher on Wednesday, encouraged by state pledges to support local markets.

Reuters contributed to this report.