Where are “people” (Conservatives) getting this idea from? Governments do not have total information of the production of all goods produced in the world. How hard is it to understand they just look at the shipping location of items and their classified category?
Reactionaries do this all the time and think it means they won the argument when people disengage. I’ve seen this a lot where they gloat about “owning some lib.” Like no, you did fuck all. The person you were arguing with just realized you’re so fundamentally wrong it would take hours to explain why and you’re not worth the time.
Conservatives say the wildest shit deliberately because for them it’s not about reaching an understanding, it’s about throwing their weight around for clout. By flinging enough nonsensical shit, they can hone in on whatever the other person doesn’t immediately dispute as a gotcha, allowing them to skip over whatever brainrot easily disproven.