Your favorite T-shirts, dresses and cheap appliances from Shein and Temu just got pricier because of President Trump’s tariffs.
The Chinese web retailers on Friday hiked prices to offset a 120% tariff that their goods will be subject to with the May 2 end of the de minimis exemption, which has allowed retailers to import goods worth less than $800 into the US without paying tariffs.
Two patio chairs listed on Temu’s site were marked up to $70.17 on Friday from $61.72 a day earlier, according to CNN. A bathing suit set on Shein cost $8.39 on Friday – a 91% increase from $4.39 on Thursday, the report said.
Prices often fluctuate online, and Temu and Shein’s price hikes weren’t consistent across their entire range of products. A smart ring sold on Temu, for example, was about $3 cheaper on Friday than it was on Thursday.
Temu, in a note online, also said its operating expenses had increased due to “recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs.”
“To keep offering the products you love without compromising on quality, we will be making price adjustment starting April 25, 2025,” Temu said.
Shein and Temu did not immediately respond to The Post’s requests for comment.
Last week, the two retailers had warned customers to scoop up products ahead of the tariffs – cautioning that price hikes were on the way.
Trump signed an executive order earlier this month targeting the loophole, which also allowed Chinese companies to skirt through normal customs checks.
Along with taxing extra goods, the end of the de minimis rule will also put low-value items under more of a microscope at border entry – requiring US customs officials to randomly search an extra 1 million packages per day.
That could help prevent dangerous or faulty products from making their way to US customers.
But closing the loophole will also disproportionately impact low-income Americans, who spent more than triple their share of income on apparel compared to the wealthiest households in 2021, according to a report by the Trade Partnership Worldwide, based on Bureau of Labor Statistics data.
Low-income Americans lean more heavily on sites like Shein and Temu, with 48% of packages shipped under the de minimis threshold going to the poorest zip codes, according to research from UCLA and Yale economists.
Just 22% of those packages went to the richest zip codes in the US.
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