Hong Kong – President Donald Trump has a new nickname in China: “The lord of eternal rates.”
Jokes and memes on the rates Trump has imposed on Beijing and other US business partners have been proliferating online in China, adopted by state media that seek to bring together the public and common users of the Internet baffled by Trump’s political decisions.
“The Lord of Eternal Rates”, which can also be translated As “10,000 tariff grandparents,” appeared last week in a CCTV report, China’s state station, which said that Americans were “getting up in arms” against tariffs in the midst of fears that they could damage the economy of the United States.
As the two largest economies in the world appear in an impasse on tariff levels that are equivalent to a mutual embargo, an American tax of 145% on Chinese products and a Chinese tax of 125% on the assets of the United States, Beijing has been allowing such rhetoric to promote the perception that it has the upper hand over Trump.
China has taken a hard line in the commercial dispute, and its Ministry of Commerce says on Thursday that the United States should revoke all unilateral rates against China if you really “really want to solve the problem.”
Although the potential impact on their populations begins to sink, the two countries are far from reaching the type of trade that Trump says that tariffs are designed to extract. They cannot even agree on whether the conversations have begun.
Trump said Thursday that US and Chinese officials had met that morning, without specifying who officials were.
When asked about Trump’s comments on Friday, the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs again disputed that conversations were being made.
“There have been no consultations or negotiations between China and the United States on tariff issues,” said spokesman Guo Jiakun. “The United States should not fool the public.”
Commentators on China’s very censored social networks have rushed to take advantage of any suggestion that Trump can flash. Earlier this week, after Trump said that the United States “was going to be very friendly” with China and that the final tariffs “would not be close to 145%, one of the main trend hashtags on the Chinese social media platform Weibo was #TrumpwimpSout.
Chinese social networks have also satirized what they see how Trump’s strong man aspirations. In Rednote, a Chinese platform similar to Instagram, the images generated by AI show Trump dressed as a Chinese emperor.
Others have made fun of the idea that the United States returns to a nation mainly focused on manufacturing, with a video generated by AI that represents Trump, Elon Musk, vice president JD Vance and Secretary of State Framework Rubio working in a production line on blue monkeys.
The creators of content on platforms that are not accessible in China have also joined in the mockery online. A Parody account on YouTube produced a video called “The Song of Maga”, in which Trump, Musk, Vance and Rubio march together in front of a banner that says “serve people”, a political slogan that the Chinese government often used.
“The lord of eternal rates” joins other Chinese nicknames for Trump that have existed since his first mandate, such as “King Know-Tall”. A popular transliteration of Trump’s name is “Trump builds the nation”: the nation is China, which some say that it could become more influential in the world as Trump’s administration retires.
Leaving aside, there are indications that both China and the United States are looking for ways to minimize the impact of tariffs on their economies and people. Last week, for example, the Trump administration said smartphones and other consumer electronics, which are among the greatest Chinese exports to the United States, would receive tariff exemptions.
When asked Friday about the reports that China was considering exempting some US imports from the 125%tariff, Guo, the spokesman for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that “he was not aware of the situation.
But Beijing is openly promoting a campaign to help companies whose exports could block them in the domestic market.
Six Chinese online retailers, including JD.com and PDD, have now designated sections to help exporters sell their products to Chinese consumers, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.
The Chinese Unit of Walmart has launched a similar channel in response to Beijing’s call for the “Integrated Development of National and Foreign Trade,” he said Thursday.
In Joy City Mall in Beijing, there are new signs that say “exports turned into nationals” and “support Chinese manufacturing products.” The section sells a wide range of products, including clothing, shoes, suitcases, canned food and even fine porcelain.
Experts say that the campaign may not earn a lot of traction since the Chinese government has fought for years to boost domestic consumption.
It is “naive” that Chinese exporters compensate their losses selling in other markets, since there are many products that only Americans will buy, such as Christmas decorations, said Andy Xie, an independent economist in Shanghai.
“People need to accept the reality that many companies will eventually close,” he said.
Peter Guo reported from Hong Kong and Dawn Liu de Beijing.
