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“When goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will.” There’s no documented evidence that the great 19th century free thinker Frederic Bastiat penned or spoke the previous line, but it doesn’t really matter whether he did or didn’t. It really doesn’t even matter if Bastiat would have agreed with it or not, even though he likely would have agreed.

What matters about the line is that it’s a statement of the obvious. Rare is the person eager to kill or maim his or her best customer. This is simple stuff. Businesses prosper based on repeat business. Settled science.

What’s settled always comes to mind when thinking about TikTok. It has globalized ownership, including ownership in China. Americans fearful of the Chinese portion of its ownership should sleep more deeply at night thanks to this truth. Think about it.

There are roughly 170 million American users of TikTok. What this tells us is that if China the country were to ever pursue a destructive war against the United States, it would do so at great cost to China, including investors in China. See TikTok’s American user base if you’re confused about the previous assertion, not to mention how a myriad of other Chinese-based businesses gain their vitality from American buyers.

What’s true about China is true for the U.S. Take any large American business, whether McDonald’s, Starbucks, Nike, Apple, Qualcomm, Tesla, Nvidia, and what’s quickly apparent is that increasingly prosperous Chinese consumers are a major aspect of the growth strategy of each corporation mentioned. Do you think any of those companies want war with China? Not a chance. Talk about self-defeating.

The growing interconnectedness between the U.S. and China rates persistent mention as the Department of Justice prepares its flimsy case against TikTok. The case is rooted in “national security” notions, but 170 million American users of TikTok is the stuff of a great deal more national security for the American people than the DOJ could ever hope to provide.

Despite this, the DOJ persists. It claims TikTok collects “precise location” information from its users, when it in fact doesn’t. It also alleges that TikTok’s recommendation engine for what users see is located in China, when in fact it isn’t.

Still, and just for fun, let’s assume that both accusations were true. All it would tell us is that TikTok is collecting the same information on its American users that its largely American competition is. That they are is but a reminder of the truth that if you have free access to any product, then you’re the product. And this is a good thing. Gathering knowledge about customers is as old as business is. User knowledge gained leads to a better outcome for customers.

At the same time, knowledge gained about users of a free venue is a tautological sign that the information compiled about users is being sold. Translated for readers, “Beijing” doesn’t need TikTok to know about what Americans (including government workers and military employees) are up to and where they are.  

As for the location of TikTok’s recommendation engine, even if it were in China (it’s once again not), its value is because it’s a market as opposed to an ideological tool. What’s great about markets is that they quite simply are. They’re information personified, as in they’re a reflection of the individuality of their users as opposed to a manipulation of same.

In which case it’s no reach to say that TikTok’s recommendation engine is genius not because it propagandizes CCP ideology (as evidenced by the ubiquity of Americana in China, the government can’t even convince the Chinese people to disdain the U.S.) but because it expertly understands American users in ways the competition doesn’t. Importantly, this understanding of American users is a source of safety for Americans as market forces generally are.

The above truth can once again be found in 170 million American users, and counting. Call the previous number the ultimate form of national security for the American people, at which point we can better understand the motives of the DOJ.

Since TikTok’s American usage is national security personified, we can then see the real problem: TikTok is beating its American competition. Yes, underlying the DOJ’s case is protectionism. Of course, the national security problem with protectionism is that “When goods don’t cross borders, soldiers will.”

John Tamny is editor of RealClearMarkets, President of the Parkview Institute, a senior fellow at the Market Institute, and a senior economic adviser to Applied Finance Advisors (www.appliedfinance.com). His latest book, released on April 16, 2024 and co-authored with Jack Ryan, is Bringing Adam Smith Into the American Home: A Case Against Homeownership


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