Shein and Temu start hiking prices as tariffs and shipping crackdown take effect
China’s fast-fashion giants are adjusting their price tags as trade tensions threaten their ultracheap empire.
Shein and PDD Holdings Temu have reportedly started hiking prices as a double whammy of rising tariffs and the end of a major import tax exemption threaten their bottom line.
Both companies have warned shoppers that price tags would go up on April 25 — and users are already spotting sticker shock across social media and Reddit.
The squeeze comes after President Trump announced new plans to jack up fees on small parcel shipments, shutting down the decades-old “de minimis” exemption that helped Chinese marketplaces flood US homes with rock-bottom goods. While Shein and Temu have downplayed the role of the exemption in their bargain-bin pricing, the combo of soaring tariffs — now up to 145% on some goods — and new import rules could change that story fast.
It’s already leaving a mark: Temu tumbled from its usual top-five ranking to No. 64 among free apps in Apple’s US App Store last week, just days after it suddenly yanked its Google Shopping ads. It’s a stunning fall from grace for a platform that was America’s most downloaded app just months ago.
The timing could be especially tricky for Shein, which has been prepping for a splashy IPO in the UK — but still counts the US as one of its most critical markets. The impact on American consumers can’t be overstated: a recent survey found that nearly 70% of US consumers have bought from Chinese marketplaces including Shein, Temu, AliExpress, or TikTok Shop in the past year — and nearly half shopped across more than one.
