Shein and Temu products get more expensive as tariffs go into effect
The online retailers previously built their brands selling cheap goods.
Cheap clothing and products from Shein and other Chinese online retailers are getting more expensive as tariffs go into effect.
The Trump administration closed a "de minimis" loophole early Friday that previously allowed for "low value" packages valued at $800 or less to be exempt from tariffs and paperwork.
Low value packages now face a tariff of 120% or a $100 package fee. On June 1, the fee will jump from $100 to $200.
The move has already had a huge impact on foreign retailers, especially Chinese online retailers like Shein and Temu, which are now facing steep duties for the first time.
If that increase is passed on exactly to consumers, a $10 T-shirt could go up to $22 while a $200 luggage set could go up to $300.
A thick kitchen cleaning towel being sold on Shein, for example, has gone up 377% from $1.28 to $6.10, according to Bloomberg.
Currently, Temu has added "local" labels next to items that are already in the U.S. that won't be impacted by tariffs and are being sold at lower prices until they are out of stock.
In a statement to ABC News, Temu said prices for U.S. customers won't be changing as they switch to stocking products from local U.S. suppliers.
"All sales in the U.S. are now handled by locally based sellers, with orders fulfilled from within the country," the company said. "Temu has been actively recruiting U.S. sellers to join the platform. The move is designed to help local merchants reach more customers and grow their businesses. This shift is part of Temu's ongoing adjustments to improve service levels."
The White House announced in April that it would end the exemption on small-dollar shipments from China, which retailers like Shein and Temu have historically taken advantage of by selling super cheap products to American consumers.
Trump previously extended the de minimis loophole back in February after outcry over an earlier decision to end it. The president had suspended the exemption on Feb. 1, causing widespread confusion and prompting the U.S. Postal Service to halt the delivery of packages from China and Hong Kong temporarily. Trump walked back that decision and reinstated the exemption days later.
Imports from China have already been hit with a combined total of a 54% tariff rate, which could increase American households' budgets to up to $2,100, according to an April analysis by The Budget Lab at Yale, a policy research center.
The use of the de minimis provision loophole skyrocketed in recent years: In 2024, more than 1.36 billion shipments entered the U.S. using the exemption, according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
Trump originally said he imposed tariffs on China due to what he claims is its role in what he says is a national emergency on fentanyl entering the U.S., with shippers of illicit drugs and their inputs "often [avoiding] detection" by using the de minimis rule.
The Chinese government previously pushed back on Trump's fentanyl claims, releasing a report in March that outlined the ways in which it said it was working to tamp down the illegal fentanyl trade.
"In the spirit of humanity, China assisted the U.S. in various ways. The U.S. should not meet good with evil or even impose arbitrary tariffs. No responsible major country should do that," Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said in March 7 press conference, according to The Associated Press.
"No country should fantasize that it can suppress China and maintain a good relationship with China at the same time," he added.
A Chinese Ministry of Commerce spokesperson previously said in an April statement, following the White House's announcement of additional 34% tariffs on top of the 20% tariffs Trump previously announced, that the tariffs would "endanger global economic development and the stability of the supply chain" and urged the U.S. to "immediately cancel its unilateral tariff measures and properly resolve differences with its trading partners through equal dialogue."
Critics of the de minimis exemption say it has harmed American businesses, like fast-fashion company Forever 21, which recently filed for bankruptcy and said in its filing that it was unable to compete with the lower prices of its foreign competitors.
ABC News has reached out to Shein for comment.
Editor's note: This article was updated to include comments from Temu and the most recent tariff information.
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