Popular Chinese retailers Shein and Temu have increased prices on a myriad of products in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Amid the ongoing trade war between Washington and Beijing, these companies are passing on the higher costs to their consumers, which could prompt Americans to significantly decrease their spending with these companies, according to Bloomberg News.
Most of the hikes in US prices came on Friday, with markups significantly higher in some categories than others, according to data compiled by Bloomberg News. The average price for the top 100 products in the beauty and health category increased by 51% from Thursday, with several of the items more than doubling in price. For home and kitchen products and toys, the average jump was more than 30%, led by a massive 377% increase in the price of a 10-piece set of kitchen towels. For women’s clothing the rise was 8%.
E-commerce shopping platforms like Shein and Temu face a 120% tariff on many of their products due to the US government’s decision to end the “de minimis” exemption for small packages from mainland China and Hong Kong. Exporters in recent years had capitalized on the exemption, which allowed goods valued at under $800 to enter the US without tariffs or customs duties. Washington will also increase the per-postal-item fee on goods entering after May 2 to $100 and even higher after June 1.
Bloomberg reported that the two companies were scrambling to figure out how to get around the tariffs earlier this year.
Back in February, in order to seek cover from Trump’s tariff policy, Shein offered incentives to some of its Chinese suppliers to set up production capacity in Vietnam. Temu wanted Chinese factories to ship their own wares in bulk directly to American warehouses, adopting what it called a “half-custody” framework.
Temu and Shein saw sales rebound in March and early April as American shoppers stockpiled everything from makeup brushes to home appliances before tariff-led price increases set in, Bloomberg data shows. Both companies announced earlier this month that they would raise prices in the US.
Temu, which has become a popular source for low-cost products, is also feeling the pressure as it increases its prices. From The Hill:
Temu appears to be taking a slightly different approach, tacking on import charges at checkout.
For example, a popular 14-in-1 power strip was listed for $19.34 on Monday but costs $48.32 after $27.49 in import charges are added to the bill.
“Items imported into the U.S. may be subject to import charges,” a Temu note explains at checkout. “These charges cover all customs-related processes and costs, including import fees paid to customs authorities on your behalf.”
A handheld steam iron on the website’s bestseller page had a $25.80 price tag but costs closer to $60 once you factor in $32.10 in import charges.
Still, dozens of items on Temu’s bestsellers list are marked to be shipped from local warehouses and don’t face additional import charges.
So far, it is unclear how much longer the trade war will endure. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent discussed the matter with reporters during a Tuesday press conference. He expressed confidence that China would blink first.
I think that over time, we will see Chinese tariffs are unsustainable for China. I’ve seen some very large numbers over the past few days that show, if these numbers stay on, the Chinese could lose 10 million jobs very quickly and even if there is a drop in the tariffs, they could lose 5 million jobs.
Bessent pointed out that the US is “the deficit country” because “they sell almost five times more goods to us than we sell to them. So, the onus will be on them to take off these tariffs. They’re unsustainable for them.”
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the US tariffs put on China are unsustainable.
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) April 29, 2025
He would not confirm if anyone from the Trump administration is talking to counterparts in Beijing https://t.co/V3PqRjnT9k pic.twitter.com/4A3yfZAsre
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