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19
“Making Fun Of People At Work?”: Chinese Artist’s “Racist” Video Mocks US Tariffs
An AI-generated video believed to have been created by a Chinese national mocks American workers under the president’s new tariffs.
The video depicts obese Americans performing low-skilled labor in factories, with Chinese music playing in the background.
Workers appear exhausted and depressed as they sew clothing and solder smartphones.
Highlights
- An AI-generated video making the rounds on social media shows a group of obese American workers performing low-skilled labor in a factory.
- The clip features traditional Chinese music playing in the background.
- It comes after the White House imposed a 104% tariff on Chinese goods, prompting China to retaliate with 34% tariffs.
It then fades out, ending with the MAGA slogan.
The 32-second clip, shared by TikTok user Ben Lau, has received over 30,000 likes and over 600,000 views since it was posted on Tuesday (April 8).
RELATED:
A viral AI-generated clip depicts obese, exhausted American factory workers under the new tariffs
Image credits: stock.adobe.com
While some found the parody amusing, others were outraged by the attempt to ridicule the American work ethic.
“What exactly is your point? My mom worked in a sewing factory for 15 years, she raised us after dad left, stayed off welfare & kept food on the table & a roof over our heads. It was a good job, thankful she had it,” one user wrote.
“My dad worked in an electronics factory assembling circuit boards when I was a kid on Long Island. It went away in the 1990s. The people seemed jovial and happy,” shared someone else.
“Jobs will come back to America. 👏👏” a third user celebrated.
Image credits: stock.adobe.com (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Mb7877907854
A separate user said: “This is thinking optimistically. Billionaires will automate this while these folks are in the streets begging for food to feed their families.”
“The Chinese music is particularly poignant,” penned another viewer.
An additional user stated: “This isn’t accurate at all. The sweat factory workers would be skinny since they couldn’t afford food.”
Others joked that they were “looking forward” to buying iPhones for $5000 and sneakers for $900.
Many disagreed on the meaning of the “American Dream,” with some expressing optimism about the increase of jobs in the United States, while others voiced concerns about potentially low wages and poor working conditions associated with those new jobs.
The clip, believed to be created by a Chinese artist, shows American workers sewing clothing and manufacturing smartphones
Image credits: axiang67 / TikTok
Image credits: axiang67 / TikTok
Another AI video, published by Chinese state news network CGTN, features a female voice that sings, “‘Liberation Day,’ you promised us the stars. But tariffs k*lled our cheap Chinese cars.”
Posted on April 3, the song is titled Look What You Taxed Us Through (An AI-Generated Song. A Life-Choking Reality).
The caption reads: “Warning: Track is AI-generated. The debt crisis? 100 percent human-made.”
The lyrics, displayed in English and Chinese, criticize the new tariffs from the point of view of the American consumer, as per TIME magazine.
“Groceries cost a kidney, gas a lung. Your ‘deals’? Just hot air from your tongue,” the voice sings. “Thanks for the tariffs, and the mess you made.”
The AI video features traditional Chinese music playing in the background
Image credits: axiang67 / TikTok
New China TV, another state media, published a sci-fi short film titled T.A.R.I.F.F., which tells the story of a robot called Technical Artificial Robot for International Fiscal Functions.
“This is the story of T.A.R.I.F.F., an AIGC [artificial-intelligence-generated content] sci-fi thriller about the relentless weaponization of #Tariffs by the United States, and the psychological journey of a humanoid towards its eventual self-destruction,” the video’s description reads.
Image credits: axiang67 / TikTok
Image credits: crissythehippo
The videos come after the US imposed a 104% tariff on Chinese goods, which was followed by the Asian nation’s retaliatory tariffs of 34%.
The US President then threatened to retaliate with more tariffs.
He posted on Truth Social: “Yesterday, China issued Retaliatory Tariffs of 34%, on top of their already record setting Tariffs, Non-Monetary Tariffs, Illegal Subsidization of companies, and massive long term Currency Manipulation, despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the US by issuing additional Tariffs (…) will be immediately met with new and substantially higher Tariffs.”
The video, which received over 6 million views on social media, ends with the MAGA slogan
Image credits: axiang67 / TikTok
@axiang67 Make america great again～#tariff#america♬ 原创音乐 – Ben Lau
“If China does not withdraw its 34% increase above their already long term trading ab*ses by tomorrow, April 8th, 2025, the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50 percent effective April 9th.”
He added that “all talks with China concerning their requested meetings with us will be terminated” if the country does not remove its retaliatory tariffs, and that trade negotiations with other nations which have requested meetings with the US “will begin taking place immediately.”
The White House’s argument for imposing tariffs is that they will make Chinese imports more expensive, therefore incentivizing Americans to invest in domestic factories and create jobs for American workers.
The US imposed a 104% tariff on Chinese goods, and China retaliated with 34% tariffs
Image credits: stock.adobe.com (not the actual photo)
Image credits: stock.adobe.com (not the actual photo)
The president also stated that the tariffs, imposed on imports from about 90 nations, are needed to reduce the trade deficit between the US and other countries, including China and members of the European Union.
Smartphones, computers, lithium-ion batteries, toys and video game consoles account for the majority of Chinese exports to the United States.
Beijing has stated it will “fight to the end” after the US administration threatened to impose further tariffs.
While some were amused by the video, others found it offensive to American work culture
Image credits: stock.adobe.com
Global markets experienced a sharp decline last week when the president’s tariffs began coming into effect.
“I don’t want anything to go down, but sometimes you have to take medicine to fix something,” he said, addressing the US market plunge.
“What’s going to happen with the market I can’t tell you, but I can tell you our country has gotten a lot stronger.”
One user referred to the AI-generated video as “misleading propaganda”
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ggus44 8 months ago
If you feel offended by those images, then it's you who disrespects the working class. And that said, go scream MAGA with the worst president you could ever have and his n a z i boyfriend, go scream "Gulf of America", go spread hate on immigrants, go pick a fight with your neighbors Canada and Mexico, go tax every single country in the world (including that island where only penguins live), but then don't complain when you get laughs and hate from everyone else.
UKGrandad 8 months ago
Every nation....except Russia and North Korea. Trump does love his dictator friends.
Load More Replies...
ॐBoyGanesh 8 months ago
My friend is the owner of a 2nd-generation semiconductor company. It’s an American firm, he is American. They have a production & assembly factory in Taiwan. They have offices in a few US cities as American HVAC companies are their sole customers. They are headquartered in Taipei. The cost of producing in Taiwan then importing to the US is so astronomically low that in his estimates, it would take tariffs of 500% to even consider moving everything stateside. In actuality, he said they’d move to another foreign country with labors laws & costs weaker than those of the USA but with less tariff penalties. Nothing about the threat of increased tariffs has him considering bringing the manufacturing to America or creating jobs for Americans. It sucks, but it’s economics. Manufacturing, assembly, agriculture aren’t the sectors that are going to create job prosperity, stable employment & a thriving economy. It’s mostly service sector jobs that do this, but that’s just part of the problem.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 8 months ago
I don't understand the people getting big mad at this video. Do most Americans not realize that the vast majority of the cheap-áss goods they like to consume are manufactured in China? (I'm American myself, and I can read labels, but it seems like a lot of my fellow countrymen are baffled.) Yeah, there are some companies who are very "proud" to say that their goods are "Made in USA" - but they're generally not cheap, and we've gotten used to cheap goods (especially clothing.) We still have plenty of manufacturing jobs/sewing jobs here in America, but I think most intelligent people realize where the vast majority of goods manufacture is happening: NOT here in the US. As an aside, my family has owned a housecleaning service for 35+ years. Want to hazard a guess how many white employees we have?
UKGrandad 8 months ago (edited)
"Yesterday, China issued Retaliatory Tariffs of 34% [...] despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the US by issuing additional Tariffs..." And that's Trump in a nutshell. Thinks he can treat anybody and everybody in whatever shítty way he pleases then cries 'NO FAIR!' when they give it back. Typical schoolyard bully.
Tabitha 8 months ago (edited)
Can dish it out like a bully, but cries and whimpers and throws a tantrum like a spoiled brat toddler when someone gives it right back to him. His comeuppance is long overdue, but when it comes I hope it’s televised.
Load More Replies...
Joe Bloe 8 months ago
That's the thing with hate : when you apply it to the rest of the world, it come back to bite you. You insult everyone, everyone hate you. What baffle me is the amount of comment STILL defending Trump absurd economic theory, that any economist would tell you it won't work and will only hurt american workers.
Rick Murray 8 months ago
Populists win over selfish people with lies and short snappy mantras. A good example being "Make America Great Again". Brexit delivered a few too. In a globalised world, these sorts of things cannot deliver. But that's okay so long as they can blame Biden/Remainers/the EU/anybody else. I think some people are getting quite rich while the supporters are being taken for fools.
Load More Replies... Robin Roper 8 months ago
This is not looking down on factory workers. This is satire, something many don't fully understand. These jobs will not come back to the US and if they do, it will take years and years to do so and will cost a large fortune. The manufacturing plants that closed in the 80's and 90's are now decrepit empty buildings. The technology advances in these industries make even the empty buildings non suitable for revamping. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive and uninformed.
Mariaf 8 months ago
Wasn't freedom of speech a thing the magatards scream and hollered about? This is it, babe! This is freedom of speech. Not so funny when you are the b of the joke, is it. Enjoy your crippling inflation!
Tamra 8 months ago
Oh, they're absolutely proponents of free speech, but only if it's applied to *their* speech. Everyone else can get f*cked, apparently.
Load More Replies...
Vermonta 8 months ago
Trump thinks factories will move back to the USA. 2 factories already said "Nope"
M O'Connell 8 months ago
An enormous barrier to manufacturing work returning to the US en-masse is that the cost of entrepreneurial entry into the manufacturing industry is simply too high. People are accustomed to goods which have been optimized for large-scale mass production, and expect the cheap price tag that goes along with it. Setting up a manufacturing line costs millions of dollars, which means that growth can only come from the top, not from the garage-and-basement entrepreneurs of the 20th century.
Fellfromthemoon 8 months ago
It's not just the sweatshops but the different standards regarding the environmental impact.
UKGrandad 8 months ago
.Trump's working on levelling that playing field as we speak. He's rolling back environmental protection regulations so fast you'll be back to breathing poison before you know it. Clean air and water? Not on Trump's watch.
Load More Replies...
Kayci Styles 8 months ago
How has everyone missed the point of these videos? This is propaganda direct from the Chinese government and we are arguing amongst ourselves about whether robots or humans would be working in (currently) non-existent factories? They will do anything to keep the status quo. They are NOT our friends!!!
UKGrandad 8 months ago
But neither are Trump & Co. your friends. They are in it purely for themselves; they couldn't give a solitary shít for the American people.
Load More Replies...
Margaret Shannon 8 months ago
Manufacturing jobs won’t come back. No one is going to invest in factory building when the tariffs may be changed at the president’s whim. Yes, China has not played fair, they erected obstacles to foreign goods sold in China. But retaliatory tariffs aren’t the way to solve the problem. They only hurt the US by driving up inflation.
Trashy Panda 8 months ago
I'm no MAGA but I'd be ok with more manufacturing in the US. America used to produce a ton of stuff before Reagan.
Rick Murray 8 months ago
Trump is an idiotic bully. I kind of see what he's trying to do, but bringing manufacturing back to the US will not only take *ages*, it will put prices up and reduce shareholder revenue. There's a reason why it all went to places where labour is cheap. And he's an even bigger idiot for picking a fight with China. Sorry, let me rephrase that, for picking a fight with the place that makes all the stuff his country needs without having any alternative to switch to already up and running. But no, that takes investment and planning and the orange bully doesn't have the wherewithal to manage either.
Hoi-Polloi 8 months ago
If you want manufacturing in America, you're going to need high tariffs. Divorce the question from the "hate Trump/love Trump" nonsense and decide on the basis of the actual effects, people. People have been dickering over free trade vs mercantilism for ages.
ggus44 8 months ago
If you feel offended by those images, then it's you who disrespects the working class. And that said, go scream MAGA with the worst president you could ever have and his n a z i boyfriend, go scream "Gulf of America", go spread hate on immigrants, go pick a fight with your neighbors Canada and Mexico, go tax every single country in the world (including that island where only penguins live), but then don't complain when you get laughs and hate from everyone else.
UKGrandad 8 months ago
Every nation....except Russia and North Korea. Trump does love his dictator friends.
Load More Replies... ॐBoyGanesh 8 months ago
My friend is the owner of a 2nd-generation semiconductor company. It’s an American firm, he is American. They have a production & assembly factory in Taiwan. They have offices in a few US cities as American HVAC companies are their sole customers. They are headquartered in Taipei. The cost of producing in Taiwan then importing to the US is so astronomically low that in his estimates, it would take tariffs of 500% to even consider moving everything stateside. In actuality, he said they’d move to another foreign country with labors laws & costs weaker than those of the USA but with less tariff penalties. Nothing about the threat of increased tariffs has him considering bringing the manufacturing to America or creating jobs for Americans. It sucks, but it’s economics. Manufacturing, assembly, agriculture aren’t the sectors that are going to create job prosperity, stable employment & a thriving economy. It’s mostly service sector jobs that do this, but that’s just part of the problem.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 8 months ago
I don't understand the people getting big mad at this video. Do most Americans not realize that the vast majority of the cheap-áss goods they like to consume are manufactured in China? (I'm American myself, and I can read labels, but it seems like a lot of my fellow countrymen are baffled.) Yeah, there are some companies who are very "proud" to say that their goods are "Made in USA" - but they're generally not cheap, and we've gotten used to cheap goods (especially clothing.) We still have plenty of manufacturing jobs/sewing jobs here in America, but I think most intelligent people realize where the vast majority of goods manufacture is happening: NOT here in the US. As an aside, my family has owned a housecleaning service for 35+ years. Want to hazard a guess how many white employees we have?
UKGrandad 8 months ago (edited)
"Yesterday, China issued Retaliatory Tariffs of 34% [...] despite my warning that any country that Retaliates against the US by issuing additional Tariffs..." And that's Trump in a nutshell. Thinks he can treat anybody and everybody in whatever shítty way he pleases then cries 'NO FAIR!' when they give it back. Typical schoolyard bully.
Tabitha 8 months ago (edited)
Can dish it out like a bully, but cries and whimpers and throws a tantrum like a spoiled brat toddler when someone gives it right back to him. His comeuppance is long overdue, but when it comes I hope it’s televised.
Load More Replies... Joe Bloe 8 months ago
That's the thing with hate : when you apply it to the rest of the world, it come back to bite you. You insult everyone, everyone hate you. What baffle me is the amount of comment STILL defending Trump absurd economic theory, that any economist would tell you it won't work and will only hurt american workers.
Rick Murray 8 months ago
Populists win over selfish people with lies and short snappy mantras. A good example being "Make America Great Again". Brexit delivered a few too. In a globalised world, these sorts of things cannot deliver. But that's okay so long as they can blame Biden/Remainers/the EU/anybody else. I think some people are getting quite rich while the supporters are being taken for fools.
Load More Replies... Robin Roper 8 months ago
This is not looking down on factory workers. This is satire, something many don't fully understand. These jobs will not come back to the US and if they do, it will take years and years to do so and will cost a large fortune. The manufacturing plants that closed in the 80's and 90's are now decrepit empty buildings. The technology advances in these industries make even the empty buildings non suitable for revamping. Anyone who thinks otherwise is naive and uninformed.
Mariaf 8 months ago
Wasn't freedom of speech a thing the magatards scream and hollered about? This is it, babe! This is freedom of speech. Not so funny when you are the b of the joke, is it. Enjoy your crippling inflation!
Tamra 8 months ago
Oh, they're absolutely proponents of free speech, but only if it's applied to *their* speech. Everyone else can get f*cked, apparently.
Load More Replies... Vermonta 8 months ago
Trump thinks factories will move back to the USA. 2 factories already said "Nope"
M O'Connell 8 months ago
An enormous barrier to manufacturing work returning to the US en-masse is that the cost of entrepreneurial entry into the manufacturing industry is simply too high. People are accustomed to goods which have been optimized for large-scale mass production, and expect the cheap price tag that goes along with it. Setting up a manufacturing line costs millions of dollars, which means that growth can only come from the top, not from the garage-and-basement entrepreneurs of the 20th century.
Fellfromthemoon 8 months ago
It's not just the sweatshops but the different standards regarding the environmental impact.
UKGrandad 8 months ago
.Trump's working on levelling that playing field as we speak. He's rolling back environmental protection regulations so fast you'll be back to breathing poison before you know it. Clean air and water? Not on Trump's watch.
Load More Replies... Kayci Styles 8 months ago
How has everyone missed the point of these videos? This is propaganda direct from the Chinese government and we are arguing amongst ourselves about whether robots or humans would be working in (currently) non-existent factories? They will do anything to keep the status quo. They are NOT our friends!!!
UKGrandad 8 months ago
But neither are Trump & Co. your friends. They are in it purely for themselves; they couldn't give a solitary shít for the American people.
Load More Replies... Margaret Shannon 8 months ago
Manufacturing jobs won’t come back. No one is going to invest in factory building when the tariffs may be changed at the president’s whim. Yes, China has not played fair, they erected obstacles to foreign goods sold in China. But retaliatory tariffs aren’t the way to solve the problem. They only hurt the US by driving up inflation.
Trashy Panda 8 months ago
I'm no MAGA but I'd be ok with more manufacturing in the US. America used to produce a ton of stuff before Reagan.
Rick Murray 8 months ago
Trump is an idiotic bully. I kind of see what he's trying to do, but bringing manufacturing back to the US will not only take *ages*, it will put prices up and reduce shareholder revenue. There's a reason why it all went to places where labour is cheap. And he's an even bigger idiot for picking a fight with China. Sorry, let me rephrase that, for picking a fight with the place that makes all the stuff his country needs without having any alternative to switch to already up and running. But no, that takes investment and planning and the orange bully doesn't have the wherewithal to manage either.
Hoi-Polloi 8 months ago
If you want manufacturing in America, you're going to need high tariffs. Divorce the question from the "hate Trump/love Trump" nonsense and decide on the basis of the actual effects, people. People have been dickering over free trade vs mercantilism for ages.
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