Trade War Of Minds: How TikTok Became The New Battlefield In The US-China Rivalry

By Siti Radziah Hamzah

KUALA LUMPUR, April 23 (Bernama) -- As tensions between the United States (US) and China extend beyond traditional economic fronts, a new battleground has emerged — one defined not by tariffs or trade deficits, but by algorithms and viral videos.

On platforms like TikTok, a digital front in the US-China rivalry is quietly unfolding, reshaping how consumers perceive brands, national identity, and economic power.

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Gone are the days when trade wars were fought solely through policy. Now, bite-sized content has the power to sway public opinion just as forcefully as any government statement.

A TikTok clip showing a luxury American handbag with a “Made in China” tag — sold at a fraction of its US price — lays bare supply chain realities. It challenges deeply held beliefs about quality, patriotism, and the true origins of global goods.

Academics say these subtle yet powerful messages are shifting the psychological ground on which trade relations stand.

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“Trade wars — or any geopolitical or economic conflicts — are fundamentally complex. Emotions often guide perceptions rather than facts, and social media plays a key role in amplifying these sentiments, both positive and negative,” said Nottingham University Business School (NUBS) Malaysia assistant professor of digital marketing Dr Muhammad Hamza Shahab in an interview with Bernama.

This subtle war of perception has turned platforms like TikTok into powerful tools of soft influence.

Whether through state narratives or organic virality, these videos are shaping how younger generations view economic self-sufficiency, brand authenticity, and globalisation itself. In this war of minds, information is the weapon and attention is the prize.  

The Psychology of Consumption: Nationalism in the Shopping Cart

Trade disputes may begin in boardrooms and government halls, but their ripple effects often play out in the minds of everyday consumers. National identity, historical tensions, and pop culture all feed into how we perceive the value and origin of a product.

Dr Muhammad Hamza explained that a mix of influences shapes consumer perceptions — from marketing cues and national stereotypes to personal values and geopolitical narratives.

“For example, people tend to associate Swiss watches or Italian leather goods with quality, while viewing goods from lower-cost manufacturing countries like China or Vietnam as inferior — even when that’s not always the case,” he added.

This bias intensifies during periods of geopolitical tension, when patriotism becomes a commercial motivator.

Chinese consumers have been known to boycott Western brands during diplomatic spats — an approach the Chinese state has sometimes encouraged.

Meanwhile, University of Nottingham Malaysia head of the school of politics and international relations Dr Benjamin Barton noted that such strategies have long been part of China’s domestic playbook.

“Usually, the dynamic with China’s opportunistic exploitation of nationalist sentiment against the backdrop of trade and geopolitical frictions is to stoke the ire of mainland Chinese nationals against the commercial visibility of the foreign partner in question,” he added.

Barton said this has been seen over the years with Chinese boycotts and protests against French, Japanese, and South Korean brands in response to various bilateral spats.

“The Chinese state stirs such nationalism for its own self-interest — largely to deflect attention away from itself and to galvanise patriots behind it,” he pointed out.

But in an ironic twist, the tables have turned. During the Trump administration, the focus shifted to American consumers, with public campaigns urging citizens to “buy American” while vilifying Chinese imports.

“This time, the onus is on the American consumer. To highlight the self-defeating nature of the tariffs, emphasis is placed on where cheap consumer goods were assembled — serving as a poignant reminder and countering the narrative spun by the Trump administration about the essence of buying strictly American-made products,” Barton pointed out.

In an unexpected move, China now appears to be nudging sentiment beyond its borders — a marked shift from its traditionally insular posture.

Barton noted that this was a first for China in terms of seeking to directly influence American consumers, and it represents something of an irony given how protective China can be against foreign interference in its own domestic affairs.

Yet behind the scenes, much of what American consumers buy — from smartphones to designer handbags — is still made in China. And TikTok is increasingly drawing attention to this contradiction.

TikTok as a Tool of Influence: Subtle, Viral, and Powerful

What makes TikTok different from previous digital platforms is not just its reach, but its emotional impact. Content on TikTok is designed for virality — short, punchy, and highly curated by algorithms tailored to individual preferences.

“Young people in particular are spending disproportionate amounts of time on these platforms, and their worldview is being shaped accordingly,” Barton said.

That’s where psychological conditioning begins to take hold. A viewer repeatedly exposed to videos showing Western products manufactured in Asia may begin to question long-standing assumptions about national prestige, brand value, and economic autonomy.

The shift may be slow, but it’s effective — especially when the message does not come from governments but from fellow users who appear authentic and relatable.

“Even when not state-sponsored, viral content can influence opinions over time. This is a form of soft power — a kind of psychological conditioning that reshapes what people consider normal or true,” Muhammad Hamza said.

Cognitive Dissonance: When Reality Disrupts Belief

When consumers discover that the brands they associate with national pride are actually produced overseas, the reaction is often emotional rather than rational. It’s a psychological phenomenon known as cognitive dissonance — the discomfort that arises from holding two conflicting beliefs.

“To deal with this discomfort, some people downplay the new information or continue buying the same products out of habit or brand loyalty. Others may experience a sense of betrayal, especially if they strongly identify with economic patriotism,” said Muhammad Hamza.

In the US, this tension has been most visible in the debate over tariffs and reshoring manufacturing. While some advocate a full return to domestic production, most consumers remain unwilling to pay premium prices for American-made goods — a contradiction that TikTok content often highlights with biting irony.

Algorithms and the Architecture of Belief

The power of social media in shaping perceptions lies not just in the content itself, but in how it is delivered. Algorithms designed to keep users engaged often amplify content that confirms existing beliefs or provokes strong emotional reactions — whether outrage, pride, or disbelief.

“Algorithms are not neutral. They’re created by people, and they reflect biases — sometimes intentionally, sometimes not,” Barton said.

This dynamic has raised concerns about whether platforms like TikTok — owned by Chinese tech company ByteDance — might subtly favour narratives that benefit China’s global positioning. At the same time, platforms based in the US have been accused of similar leanings, especially under politically charged leadership.

The Future of Influence: What Comes Next

If social media is already shaping the global conversation around trade, the question now is how governments and corporations will respond. Regulation remains patchy and slow to catch up with the speed of technology, and experts say the imbalance will only grow.

“Tech has become both omnipresent and omnipotent. It’s operating in a regulatory grey zone — much like the financial sector before the 2008 crisis. Unless there’s political will and international cooperation, we’re unlikely to see meaningful reform anytime soon,” said Barton.

In the meantime, the best defence against psychological manipulation may be education — equipping consumers to critically evaluate the information they consume, question the motivations behind the content they see, and diversify the sources they rely on.

A New Normal in the Trade War Narrative

Ultimately, the story of the US-China rivalry is no longer just about steel, semiconductors, or sanctions. It’s about perception. The battlefield has moved online, and platforms like TikTok are rewriting the narrative in real-time.

Barton said social media has already become a consistent tool in future trade conflicts and geopolitical disputes — influencing minds and swaying audiences is almost as important as shaping the tangible nature of relations between states, corporations, and militaries, especially in an era when social media is ubiquitous.

“One only has to look at existing conflicts — Ukraine, Gaza — to see how social media plays a critical role in shaping or debunking narratives, empowering or disempowering actors, and drawing foreign audiences into localised or regionalised developments.

“We are already way past that stage now, and by the looks of things, there will be no going back to the days when social media was only designed as a means of connecting online users,” he said.

-- BERNAMA