Shein and Temu, important online retailers known for their incredibly low prices, said the prices of some products in the US would increase this Friday after President Donald Trump imposed strong tariffs on China, although it is not clear what products will be more expensive or how much.
Shein and Temu said in almost identical notices to customers this week that products prices would increase, although they did not specify how much more expensive certain items would become.
Both retailers attributed their imminent price increases to Trump tariffs to imports, which according to both companies have caused an increase in their operational costs.
Both Shein and Temu mainly produce goods in China, Trump’s biggest tariff objective, which now faces a total tariff rate of 145% and has demanded that Trump eliminate high tariffs.
Saes from Shein and Temu increased after Trump announced his tariff policy, Bloomberg reported last week.
Forbes has contacted Shein and Temu to request comments.
Lee: Shein and Temu will raise prices under pressure from Trump’s commercial measures
How have consumers reacted?
Consumers have made Shein and Temu in mass due to their extremely low prices, which led some to give the alarm on social networks about price increases.
A user published a video suggesting the best offers for consumers to take advantage of the price increases, including earrings for 2 dollars, a reusable water bottle similar to a Stanley cup for $ 21 and sunglasses for 3 dollars for $ 3.
Another user, who has 75,000 followers and regularly reviews Shein’s products, urged her followers to make her orders before Shein raises prices and said in the comments section that she would not make more orders after price increases.
Some users published videos joking that they were ordering their last “Houls de Shein” before the price increases, including one that obtained 1 million I like joking that would avoid tariffs crossing the ocean to collect their Shein packages.
What are the latest news about Trump’s tariffs to China?
Trump increased his tariffs to China several times to a rate of 145%. However, on Tuesday he said in the White House that those rates “would fall substantially, but they will not be zero,” recognizing that the 145% rate is “very high.”
The change occurred after weeks of comings and coming with China, since none of the parties seemed to reverse in the middle of a commercial war in climbing.
Lee: China presses for tariff cancellation to end the commercial war with the US
Trump said Wednesday that China and the United States are negotiating “tariff offender, but the spokesman of the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Guo Jiakun, replied that the parties” have not participated in any consultation or negotiation regarding tariffs, and much less have reached an agreement. ”
The spokesman of the Chinese Ministry of Commerce, He Yadong, said Thursday that China is open to negotiations, but must be fair and mutual, urging the United States to “cancel all unilateral tariff measures against China.”
Key history
Shein and Temu emerged in recent years as enormously popular retailers, although controversial, which have dominated the spaces of fast fashion and electronic commerce.
Shein reported 38,000 million dollars in total sales in 2024, 19% more than the previous year, although their profits fell into more than a third, Financial Times reported.
Ab Bernstein and Tech Buzz China analysts told Wired in December that Temu was on the way to reaching 50,000 million dollars in sales in 2024.
His domain has inspired multiple competitors to launch their own low -priced electronic commerce stores, including Amazon Amazon, which was launched in November, and Tiktok Shop from Tiktok.
Lee: Trump criticizes China for stopping purchases of Boeing aircraft due to tariff war
But Shein and Temu have faced criticism for the alleged poor quality of their products and accusations of bad working conditions.
An investigation of the Congress in 2023 found an “extremely high risk that Temu supply chains are contaminated with forced labor”, while a Bloomberg report revealed that part of the cotton used in Shein’s products came from Xinjiang, a China region where, according to US officials, China is committing abuse against the human rights of the Uigur people.
Both Shein and Temu have also been subject to scrutiny for their links with China, although none of them are headquarters there. The Temu headquarters is located in Boston, although the company is owned by the Chinese Electronic Commerce Company. Shein moved his headquarters from China to Singapore in 2022.
This article was originally published by Forbes US
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