Go read up on how the WTO works. We do this already for literally everything else, as does the rest of the world. The real issue is that when it comes to technology/software the policy makers have their heads in the sand.

You're telling an international relations major to read about the WTO lol. I've been read.

And just because the US is transactional with their other trade decisions doesn't make it good policy.

Oh man. You got him good. International relations major. Owned.

Trade should be reciprocal, that's how most trade decisions work. If you add a tariff to foreign goods, it's expected that the other party will add a tariff as well.

We're not talking about "trade" here. We're talking about not allowing US citizens/residents access to media that they want to access, regardless of whether or not it is "good for them".

What does that remind us of? The USSR during the cold war? China, today? No thank you.

I think it would be totally fine to use financial controls to, say, ban US users from buying things from ByteDance. But consuming free media should never be restricted just because it comes from a country you don't like.

Unilateral trade liberalization is definitely a thing and can have positive effects for the country that liberalizes.