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CHINA: Tariffs, Tik Tok, AI and DeepSeek

So where are we on China tariffs?

Trump has enacted new blanket tariffs of around 20% on top of existing 10% duties that went into place during Trump's first term. China has responded with up to 15% duties on US farm goods such as chicken and pork, which went into effect Monday, March 10.

Said Trump yesterday:  Xi "and top people underneath him" will come to the U.S. in the "not too distant future," Trump said. He did not provide more details about the potential meeting, including when it may be held and his hopes for a meeting with Xi.  He last visited the U.S. in 2023, when the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) held a summit in San Francisco.

What about TikTok?  Here is what I said about TikTok in 2021:

TikTok is a video-sharing social networking service started in 2017 by Chinese company ByteDance.  The video performance tends to be short, from 15 seconds to three minutes.  After you watch this supposedly top ten from TikTok, you've got to wonder like me why it is popular.  Maybe you need to be young to appreciate the attraction.

Facebook has nearly 3 billion active members.  You Tube has 2 billion monthly users.  TikTok, around 0.7 billion.  But depending on the metrics, TikTok might actually be more popular than You Tube.

More recently, if TikTok disappears, similar apps are:

  • Bit different, WeChat.  However, this too is from China.
  • Likee from Singapore, but it has a parent company in China.
  • RedNote is from Shanghai, China, and curiously enough, has in some quarters been noted as the best substitute for TikTok.
  • Triller, an American company, which would soar with  the end of TikTok.
  • Lemon8 is from Singapore, with a parent company in China, ByteDance!
  • Funimate from Turkey.
  • American Huddles was in the discussion, but it closed down in 2023.
  • YouTube shorts is owned by Google, and accepted by India when TikTok was banned in that country.
  • Snapchat was developed by Stanford students and continues to evolve, especially their Snapchat Spotlight.
  • Instagram Reels, owned by Meta.
  • Facebook Reels, owned by Meta.
  • Meta is run by Mark Zuckerberg, who is doing everything possible to regain friendship with Trump.
In that 2021 posting I also said:

But about Meta, Facebook remains Facebook, as do Instagram, Messenger and WhatsApp.  Meta merely sits above all of them, with a goal to begin to dominate the metaverse, the next digital frontier.  A metaverse unites the online, virtual and augmented worlds to make communications seamless.

Of course you know that:

In 2020 President Donald Trump threatened to ban TikTok in the U.S.  Had to do with China stealing secrets and national security, but had mostly to do with showing how tough he was on China for his re-election.  TikTok was told to sell the platform to an American company, and Microsoft began negotiations.  A federal judge blocked this effort and President Joe Biden revoked the ban, and asked the Secretary of Commerce to determine if this app threatened national security.

I further said in that 2021 posting:

But going back to TikTok, it does collect all kinds of information like age, username, gender, e-mail address and like, which all go back to China.  Same for Facebook, which keeps this info for their use.  But somehow, because TikTok is linked to China, there is fear that they are spying on us.

TikTok allows you to advertise yourself or your product.  No question that TikTok is targeting audiences to spur interest.  Yet, as has been the case in China where the youth of the country are admonished for spending too much time on these social media searches, TikTok has a conscience by reminding viewers who spend too much time on this site to go to sleep.

Given TikTok’s ability to build communities, it’s possible that it could become a powerful platform for organizing efforts. This potential could have ramifications for political protest . . . or it could create an economic herding effect similar to the way the WallStreetBets subreddit has used its sheer strength in numbers to reshape the stock market. During the pandemic, a number of “zillennial” investors emerged on the platform, with a keen interest in finances and day trading.

Of course, 90% of day traders lose money.  Further only 15% of day traders remain active after three years.  This would be a difficult way to make money.

So today, Veep JD Vance is heading the negotiations.  He said a deal could be reached by April 5.

  • Trump granted TikTok a 75-day extension on Day One, but said this can be extended if necessary.
  • Current leading contender is Oracle.
  • What will be the role of ByteDance, TT's parent company in China?
  • What is TikTok?
    • A short-form video-hosting service owned by Chinese internet company ByteDance.
  • Began in 2015.
  • Ranks #5 in social media popularity.
  • Hosts user-submitted videos raging from 3 seconds to 60 minutes.
  • Is heading towards 6 billion downloads, making it #1.  Population of world is 8 billion.
  • Has 1.69 billion monthly active users.
  • In the U.S., there are 170 million users, about half the national population. Average U.S. adult users spend an average of 53.8 minutes/day on TikTok.
  • Globally, 95 minutes/day.
  • TikTokers view 625 million videos in one minute.
  • 55.3% are females.
  • Most fall in the 18-24 age group, with 7% under 13, and 10% 55 and older.
    • #1 creator is Khabane Lame, with 162.7 million followers.
      • Family moved in 2000 from Senegal to Turin, Italy when he was one year old. Was working as a factory machine laborer near Turin when he lost his job because of the pandemic.
      • So he shared videos for Tik Tok in Italian.
      • He had a trademark style and just became viral.  Amazing.
      • Said now to be worth $20 million and charges $750,000/post for endorsements.
    • 75% of users are finding new songs and trends.
    • Tik Tok ad revenue reached $18.49 billion.
  • From Wikipedia:

TikTok has come under scrutiny due to data privacy violations, mental health concerns, misinformation, offensive content, and its role during the Gaza war.[11][12] Countries have fined, banned, or attempted to restrict TikTok to protect children or out of national security concerns over possible user data collection by the government of People's Republic of China through ByteDance.[11][13]

    • The       Israeli Defense Force actively recruits influencers on TikTok and other social media platforms.[275][276] In 2021 the IDF awarded a TikTokker who was one of its military police officers for promoting Israel. She had more followers than the IDF spokesperson or the prime minister.[277]

What is DeepSeek?

  • Formally, Hangzhou DeepSeek Artificial Intelligence Basic Technology Research Co., Ltd.
  • A Chinese artificial intelligence company.
  • Owned by Chines hedge fund High-Flyer
  • Founded in 2023 by 40-year old Liang Wenfeng, who also co-founded High-Flyer (formed in 2016), and serves as CEO for both.  Known as the Sam Altman of China.
  • Has 160 employees.
  • Limited by current U.S.-China trade war, lacking Nvidia chip sets.
  • Launched an eponymous chatbot alongside its DeepSeek-R1 model on 10January2025, free of charge to Apple and Android phones.  DeepSeek can answer questions, solve logic problems, and write computer programs on par with other chatbots, according to benchmark tests used by American AI companies.[1]
  • This sent shockwaves through the AI industry for its capability, contributing to the largest drop in stock market history, for Nvidia alone lost $600 billion in market value on 27January2025.  Was 147.2 on January 23, and dropped to 118.4 on January 27.  All time high was 149.4 on January 6.
  • However, just about all that loss was recouped by February 18, then zoomed upward, only to again drop, and recently rose to 120 yesterday
  • U.S. Commerce Department bureaus now bans DeepSeek on government devices.
  • DeepSeek is focused on research and has no detailed plans for commercialization.[43]This strategy allows its technology to avoid the most stringent provisions of China's AI regulations, such as requiring consumer-facing technology to comply with government controls on information.[12]
  • DeepSeek's success against larger and more established rivals has been described as "upending AI",[1] constituting "the first shot at what is emerging as a global AI space race",[2] and ushering in "a new era of AI brinkmanship".[8]
  • The Stargate Project is the U.S. government-backed program to develop American AI infrastructure.  
    • Plans to invest up to $500 billion in AI infrastructure in the U.S. by 2029.  
    • Announced by President Donald Trump on 21January2025, and chaired by Japan's Softbank's Masayoshi Son. 
    • Many has compared Stargate to the Manhattan Project, which cost $2 billion in the early 40s, with a $30 billion value today.  But Stargate will cost $500 billion.

    • The four founding companies behind the project are:

      • OpenAI: U.S.-based AI research organization
      • SoftBank: Japan-based investment company
      • Oracle: U.S.-based computer technology company
      • MGX: Investment firm based in the United Arab Emirates
    • Why is Son the chairman?  He has the lead on financing, while OpenAI will be operationally responsible.
    • Arm, Microsoft and NVIDIA will also contribute to the development.  Never heard of Arms?  Called Arms Holdings plc, it is a Japanese-owned British semiconductor and software design company based in Cambridge, England.
    • The first Stargate site is being constructed in Abilene, Texas, 200 miles outside of Dallas.
    • There will be 10 data centers, with plans to expand to 20, about half a million square feet each.
    • There are ringing alarms that humanity will lose control of AI, which if you missed it, is artificial intelligence.
    • Read my posting a decade later in 2021.
    • Today, my sense is even more so.
    • But is that a solution?  This will become just the natural flow of evolution.

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