China censors some tariff-related content on social media

By Farah Master and Jessie Pang

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China began censoring some tariff-related content on social media on Wednesday after U.S. "reciprocal" tariffs on dozens of countries took effect, including massive 104% duties on Chinese goods, while posts criticising the U.S. were top hits.

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

Other hashtags, particularly those suggesting that the U.S. has an egg shortage, were amongst the most viewed on Weibo. State broadcaster CCTV started a hashtag "#UShastradewarandaneggshortage."

The U.S. is "waving the tariff stick in a high profile manner, imposing tariffs on EU steel and aluminium products... but also writing letters to European countries in a low voice, urgently asking for eggs," CCTV said in a post on Weibo.

The censorship also extended to WeChat, where a wide range of posts from Chinese companies that highlighted the negative impact of Trump's tariffs were taken down by the platform, according to a Reuters review.

The censored posts were all marked by the same label stating the "content was suspected of violating relevant laws, regulations, and policies".

Beijing announced counter-tariffs on the U.S. last week and has vowed to fight what it views as blackmail.

Internet censors have also allowed mocking U.S. comments to proliferate on Chinese social media, depicting the United States as a globally irresponsible trading partner, as China prepares the stage for a wider trade fight with the world's biggest economy.

China controls the internet through a system known as the "Great Firewall" and social media posts are routinely censored when deemed detrimental to national interests. Foreign social media networks such as Instagram and X are blocked, a system that has created a captive market for domestic alternatives.

Beijing lawyer Pang Jiulin, who has more than 10.5 million followers on his Weibo account, said China's share of exports to the U.S. would quickly be replaced by countries such as Vietnam and India, and Chinese companies would lose the opportunity to continue exporting to the U.S.

In the face of U.S. economic aggression, China has no way out but to "fight to the end" he said.

"If China also increases tariffs to 104%, the prices of American goods including Apple and Tesla will soar, and Chinese will pay a greater price for their favourite American goods."

Hitting back with its own tariffs and export controls may not be very effective, given China ships to the U.S. about three times as many goods than the around $160 billion it imports. But it may be the only option if Beijing believes it has a higher pain threshold than Washington has.

Chinese stocks tumbled on Monday with the Shanghai Composite Index down 7% in its worst day in five years, but they closed higher on Wednesday, buoyed by state pledges to support local markets.

Prominent Chinese commentator Hu Xijin said on Wednesday that Trump's team was "really delusional".

"They are at war not only with the whole world, but also with the most basic rules of human society, so their chances of victory are zero," Hu said.

"Their reciprocal tariffs will be nailed to the pillar of shame in history for future generations to laugh at."

(Reporting by Farah Master and Jessie Pang in Hong Kong; additional reporting by Eduardo Baptista in Beijing; Editing by Kim Coghill and Ros Russell)