As an early indication of the possible impact of the trade war on American shoppers, fast-fashion behemoth SHEIN Group Ltd. increased the pricing of its items in the US, ranging from kitchenware to gowns, in anticipation of impending taxes on small packages.
While women’s clothing witnessed a more moderate increase of 8 per cent, a 10-piece set of kitchen towels saw one of the largest price hikes, hitting 377 per cent.
Online retailers SHEIN and Temu now have to pay a 120 per cent tariff on a range of goods after the US withdrew the “de minimis” exception for small packages coming from China and Hong Kong. Additionally, prices per item will rise to US $ 100 on 2nd May and again after 1st June.
By providing incentives to certain of its Chinese suppliers to establish production capacity in Vietnam, SHEIN attempted to get around Trump’s tariff stance back in February. Temu advocated for a “half-custody” strategy that would allow Chinese businesses to send their own goods in large quantities straight to American warehouses.
Several products were already more expensive, even if Friday’s price increases were more significant. On 22nd April, SHEIN raised the pricing of hundreds of its best-selling women’s apparel items. As a result, the average price of the top 100 items in the category went up by more than 4 per cent, from US $ 8.68 to US $ 9.06.
