The Chinese artificial intelligence startup DeepSeek is now the most downloaded app in 140 markets worldwide, including Apple's App Store and Alphabet's Android Play Store. To say American consumers are enthused about China's recent breakthrough in artificial intelligence is an understatement, given this vast popularity. This dovetails with U.S. consumers' love of TikTok — an app owned by a Chinese company and foreign investors (including American investors.) If this doesn't sufficiently illustrate our desire to transact with China, consider how, in the aftermath of the Supreme Court's upholding of the TikTok ban, many of TikTok's 170 million U.S. users opted to move their social media accounts over to the China-based platform RedNote, with the mainstream media sounding the alarm that this app's data practices are allegedly worse. Politicians will surely claim their TikTok ban was a massive success anyhow.
It is critical to stress that American consumers' love affair with Chinese products and services - including Temu and Shein - whose merchandise now faces additional taxation due to President Trump's tariffs - is mutual with Chinese citizens' love of ours. The people of China adore American-made movies, smartphones, and fashion retailers, as well as food chains, including Starbucks, KFC, and McDonald's — the list goes on. One visit to China's major cities reveals this firsthand. Which brings us to the point: Why do politicians pretend this dynamic doesn't exist?
Americans do not share the same enthusiasm for a trade war with China as politicians of both parties do. There is also an intriguing generational divide on this issue, as Pew Research finds that those 49 and under are significantly more likely to view China as a "competitor" (for some, even as a "partner") rather than an adversary. This dynamic doesn't become heavily lopsided (in terms of viewing China as an enemy) until the 65+ demographic is taken into account. One supposes it’s up to our younger generations - who are routinely accused of being socialists - to defend free markets from the Boomers' trade war.
Let's face it, the attacks on Chinese platforms, including TikTok and Temu, which are more popular with younger users, make clear that this is the Boomers' trade war. Any app has the ability to collect and sell user data, including to the Chinese government. Because consumer data from all manner of apps is readily available for sale on the open market, there is no ensuring the "end buyer" of user information any more than we can ensure the end destination of a barrel of oil in the global crude market.
What's especially worrisome is how politicians now can arbitrarily ban apps as they deem fit under the "Protecting Americans from Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications Act" which targeted TikTok. This rings odd considering those under 49 do not primarily view China as an "adversary" to begin with. This latest privilege the government has afforded itself should be expected to be abused, and indications are that it will. Some speculate that President Trump’s latest effort to force a partial divestiture of TikTok could serve as a template for future deals wherein Chinese companies are only afforded access to the U.S. market after the government imposes a similar-style shakedown. Sounds pretty socialist. Where does this end — a bifurcated Internet?
Chinese and American citizens will inevitably continue to look for ways to transact with each other. This is clear from our mutual desire for each other's goods and services and proven by how we currently vote with our dollars in the market. Yet politicians are doing all they can to force this trade war upon us — the question remains, why should we let them?
