Intro LO:
The Bloomberg article below gets a different impact once you exclude Shein‘s low-value items; see diagram below. High value items would probably become too expensive for (very) many people.
Hence, US Treasury Secretary. Scott Bessent, views the China-USA status quo as unsustainable (eg, AP, Axios, Reuters). Business leaders have already expressed their worries that this status quo will cause (lots of) empty shelves (eg, Axios, CNN, NBC). The Daily Telegraph (UK) was clear about such empty shelves:
“Trump has two weeks to save America from empty shelves. As imports from China dwindle, US retailers face a difficult choice: pay the tariffs or suffer shortages”
Source: The Telegraph, 25 April 2025
According to a recent article by Reuters, maritime consultancy Drewry expects the following:
- “A 2025 drop in global container shipping volume would be third since 1979, Drewry said
- If two-thirds of current U.S. tariffs remain in place, U.S. imports from China could fall 40%, Drewry said
- U.S. imports from other countries could partly offset the China drop, Drewry said”
The above may seem to be an American problem but there is some bad news for Europe in the above:
“Both politicians discussed setting up a mechanism to track possible trade diversion caused by the tariffs, von der Leyen’s office said, as the EU fears China will redirect cheap exports from the U.S. to Europe.” Note: bold markings in quote by LO.
Source: Reuters, 8 April 2025: EU’s von der Leyen urges China to ensure responsible tariff response
Moreover, as long as this American Administration keeps believing in a zero-sum game (ie, winners versus losers), there is a risk of conflict escalation. In my view, conflict de-escalation is far away.
Also see these related articles:
- Foreign Policy, 17 April 2025: How Far Will the U.S.-China Trade War Go?
- SCMP, 28 April 2025: Why Scott Kennedy thinks the US-China trade war is ‘far from the endgame’.
Bloomberg: Shein hikes US prices as much as 377% ahead of tariff increases
Date: 27 April 2025
“Synopsis
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%.”
“Fast-fashion giant Shein Group Ltd. raised US prices of its products from dresses to kitchenware ahead of imminent tariffs on small parcels, in an early sign of the potential effect of the trade war on American consumers.
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.
As recently as April 21, Trump said in a social media post that “there is virtually no inflation” because of falling energy and grocery prices. But Shein’s price hike reflects the latest efforts by Chinese online retailers to pass at least some of the extra imports costs onto US consumers.
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.
In general, prices rose by about 10% for Shein in the US from April 24 to 26 based on a sample shopping cart filled by Bloomberg News with 50 items from a range of categories. During the period, 7 out of 50 sampled items were delisted in the US. In contrast, Shein’s prices in the UK stayed mostly unchanged and no items were delisted.
Of the 43 items still available in the US cart, 30 had a price hike of more than 10% in the two days.
While broader price adjustments came on Friday, some goods had already become more expensive. The prices for dozens of top products in the Women’s Clothing category on Shein increased on April 22, pushing the average price for the top 100 products in the category to $9.06, from $8.68, an increase of more than 4%.”
Sources:
- text: Economic India Times, 27 April 2025: Shein hikes US prices as much as 377% ahead of tariff increases
- origin: Bloomberg, 27 April 2025: Shein hikes US prices as much as 377% ahead of tariff increases
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