I struggle to understand why some people paint President Trump as the villain in this tariff war. Let’s not forget that China has long banned or restricted many U.S. products and services. Trump’s tariffs are a response to China’s unfair trade practices, which have persisted for over a decade. Beyond tariffs, China blocks major U.S. companies like Facebook, Twitter, and Google from operating in its market. In my view, China hasn’t been playing fair. They restrict foreign goods and services in their country while expecting open access for their own products abroad. That’s hardly equitable. I’m surprised the U.S. didn’t act sooner. If China wants tariff-free trade, they should remove their own tariffs and restrictions on U.S. products and services. If they refuse, they have no right to complain about U.S. retaliation.
There are tariffs and there are non-tariff restrictions. China and the EU had some non-tariff restrictions over US products, but nobody cares about this. Everyone is focused on tariffs, because tariffs is what would make all imported goods expensive. Also nobody cares about low tariffs(under 5%). Trump imposed absurdly high tariffs and this is why all the anti-Trump people are kicking and screaming.
Trump definitely escalated the tariff war and the weird thing is he imposed tariffs over Brazil, where the USA doesn't have a trade deficit.
I'm not familiar with the social media situation in China, but I think that those companies aren't blocked. They are allowed to operate in China, as long as they abide by the Chinese laws and regulations(which means censorship).