China Deals Major Blow to Trump—How Beijing Is Shifting the Balance in the Trade War

As the U.S.–China trade war intensifies, the battlefield has expanded far beyond tariffs and trade talks—reaching into the smartphones of American consumers. Platforms like TikTok have become tools for Chinese suppliers to bypass U.S. restrictions, offering irresistible prices and urging American buyers to defy their own government’s policies.

Meanwhile, rare earth metals—critical to global industries—have emerged as Beijing’s newest strategic weapon, threatening to reshape the geopolitical balance of power.

Digital Black Markets: Chinese Suppliers on U.S. Phones

One Chinese supplier, Wang Xin, appeared in a viral video standing before piles of luxury “Birkin” handbags, claiming to be the original manufacturer of world-famous brands.

“Why don’t you contact us and buy directly?” he asked.

The video was later removed from TikTok, likely due to policy violations or deceptive content.

Chinese shopping platforms like DHgate (notorious for selling knockoffs) have surged in popularity, ranking #2 in Apple’s U.S. App Store, while Taobao placed seventh.

This surge reveals a growing American interest in bypassing tariff barriers to shop directly from China—even if it means venturing into the world of counterfeit goods and uncertain origins.

Major global brands like Lululemon have denied ties to the suppliers featured in these videos, stressing that official manufacturers are bound by strict non-disclosure agreements and cannot legally sell direct to consumers.

Yet despite the legal ambiguities, one message is loud and clear:

Trump’s protectionist policies may hurt China—but they hurt American consumers even more.

With import tariffs reaching 145%, U.S. buyers now face a choice:

Pay inflated prices or dive into grey-market Chinese alternatives.

Sunna Files runs with no ads, no sponsors—only the Ummah behind it.

If this content matters to you, support the work that keeps it alive.

Click here to donate

Rare Earths: China’s Silent Nuclear Option

Beijing’s response, however, hasn’t stopped at e-commerce.

In a more calculated and geopolitically loaded move, China announced tight restrictions on the export of rare earth elements—a class of 17 minerals critical to:

- Smartphones and electronics

- Electric vehicles

- Aircraft engines

- Military technology

These elements, such as neodymium and yttrium, are indispensable to modern industries. While small reserves exist in the U.S., extraction is costly, environmentally hazardous, and technically complex—making the U.S. heavily reliant on China, which controls up to 80% of the global rare earth supply chain.

Washington Scrambles as Beijing Tightens the Screws

In response, President Trump directed the U.S. Department of Commerce to find alternatives and reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains.

But according to economists and policy experts, replacing China’s role in this sector may take years—and will cost the U.S. economy billions in lost time, technology gaps, and inflated production costs.

This move is seen as a decisive escalation in the trade war. It signals Beijing’s ability to strike where it hurts—not just through tariffs, but by weaponising its industrial dominance in critical technologies.

Islamic Perspective on Economic Warfare

For Muslim readers, particularly those in Southeast Asia and the West, this conflict reflects the moral contradictions of global capitalism:

Nations that preach “freedom” and “competition” now attempt to block access to cheaper markets, while simultaneously undermining developing economies.

More importantly, it raises the question: