Chinese Garment Factories Supplying Fast-Fashion Company Shein Shutdown
Is the Trump tariff plan already working? Meanwhile, UK Chancellor just announced plans to beef up British protections against cheap imports.
For those of you unfamiliar with online shopping, Shein is a global fast fashion retailer originally founded in Nanjing, China, in 200. While Shein’s headquarters are now in Singapore, its main supply chain and manufacturing operations remain in China, particularly in the Guangzhou region, which is home to thousands of factories producing its products
Shein specializes in inexpensive, trendy clothing and accessories. It primarily targets young women but also offers men’s, children’s, and home goods. The company operates exclusively online through its website and app, serving customers in over 150 countries worldwide.
During the 2020 pandemic and the Biden Era, times were very good for the company. However, under President Donald Trump’s tariff system, times are now much harder.
Dozens of garment factories in the Guangzhou district (known as “Shein Village”) have closed or gone idle.
Until recently, these goods frequently made their way directly to American consumers who bought them at a fraction of the cost of clothes that are sold by US-based retailers thanks to a tax exemption for international shipments valued at $800 or less.
“Orders from Shein have fallen this year, and our sales are down by a lot,” a worker at one workshop employing around 20 people told the Japanese news agency Nikkei.
Trump’s removal of the de minimis policy, which goes into effect on May 2, means all shipments regardless of size now face import taxes.
The policy had enabled online retailers such as Shein and Temu to keep prices competitive in the American market, crucially underpinning their business model.
While Shein may consider diversifying its supply chain and moving factories to Vietnam, the changes will seriously impact the business model.
A move to source more from Vietnam could help Shein to continue sending goods to the U.S. at lower tariff rates or without import duties at all for packages sent under de minimis – though there is no guarantee the threshold will remain in place for goods sent from Vietnam.
But it also creates a Catch-22 situation for the company – a potentially costly and time-consuming one in an industry in which price and time are essential.
“The diversification of its sourcing base and a significant change in its business model will have to go hand-in-hand for Shein,” said Sheng Lu, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware.
Without fundamentally changing the business model of pumping out thousands of new styles in small batches and shipping them quickly to end consumers, Shein can’t diversify its supply chain, and without diversifying the supply chain away from South China, it can no longer ship products direct to U.S. consumers at low, tariff-free prices, Lu says.
Sadly for Shein, other countries seem to be making trade moves in their own interest. The United Kingdom Chancellor announced plans to beef up British protections against cheap imports.
Rachel Reeves said she would review rules on “low value imports” due to concerns they unfairly benefit foreign companies such as Temu and Shein at the expense of British high street stores.
Under plans announced on Wednesday, the Trade Remedies Authority (TRA) will also “surge” resources into helping businesses report unfair practices such as “dumping”, in which goods are sold into the UK at below-market prices.
…Currently, imports valued under £135 do not have to pay customs duties, but some retailers have argued this gives preferential treatment to firms such as Temu and Shein that make and store products overseas and then ship them directly to UK customers.
The Chancellor’s plan will see more resources given to the TRA’s pre-application office, which supports businesses with advice on what evidence it needs to launch investigations.
Joe Mannix, contributor at Ace of Spades HQ, notes that progressives should be happy about Trump’s tariffs and their ultimate impact on the environment.
It’s also an exemption that was the enemy of many an environmental group back when it was safe for progressives to attack it. The “Fast fashion” industry is hard on the environment (though that’s “over there” and environmental NIMBYism doesn’t care about “over there”) and borderline disastrous in terms of energy.
The energy it takes to ship a Shein garment is significantly greater than it is for a garment delivered through bulk purchasing and distribution. The environmentalists have been talking about this for years now. Had Biden eliminated the de minimis exemption, they’d be cheering.
Yet most are not. Orange Man is still Orange Man. The dichotomy is on display in many outlets.
But I am happy our supply chain is becoming less reliant on China.
I am simply going to tap this sign. pic.twitter.com/FgWqygQIvb
— Leslie Eastman ☥ (@Mutnodjmet) April 13, 2025
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Tapping too. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Pp_7rK7BJ5Q&pp=ygUUZmFzaGlvbiB0aGVvcnkgc2hlaW4%3D
You will need Sherlock Holmes himself if you want to stand any kind of chance of discovering the American who gives a dam about what economic suffering happens in China they care that the U.S. Economy (i.e. themselves) suffer and so do not give a dam that the Chinese economy is also suffering.
Our political cycles are
Every two years-Congressional Elections
Every four years-Presidential Elections
Every 6 years-A senator has to stand for re-election
It is past time to stop this global recession. America has gained absolutely nothing and is losing a lot of net worth and is marching towards losing reserve currency status.
If you want Social Security to cease to exist because there isn’t a single person in Japan who wants to fund American Social Security keep supporting tariffs.
We still import every actual important item from China that China specializes in but elderly antiquarians in China have found their Mind replica vases tariffed…..
You might want to let it play out a little bit before giving up completely. Remember, there used to being able to just walk all over that retarded pedophile we used to have in the White House.
We are by far the richest nation on the planet, our economy was not suffering from tariffs or mythological protectionism it was suffering inflation.
Inflation Trump promised to work hard removing and instead is trying to make worst.
EU collected 3 billion in tariffs last time we have open records for while we collected 1 billion in tariffs from the EU.
I am not the only one who doesn’t want to exterminate the American Economy and surrender reserve currency status Americans are sick of this bullshit and Democrats are gaining in the generic ballot as a result.
America has not gotten screwed America has prospered.
If this was for something other than ego and nostalgia Trump would not have lied to the nation by providing a list of trade deficits provided by imports and claimed them to be tariffs.
Some in the USA have prospered under globalism but the gains are highly concentrated at the top end of the economic spectrum. The broad middle-class (the 70% in the center) haven’t fared nearly as well. I born in ’70 and in my lifetime we’ve gone from a single income able to support a middle-class lifestyle; buy a home, buy a car sometimes a 2nd car, take a two week vacation to the beach or mountains, buy groceries all without strain to today’s reality of two full-time jobs and often a side hustle.
My Parents got married in ’66. Bought a 2 bed/2bath house in a good neighborhood for less than $15K. The total payment was $98. Had two good vehicles and two GSD then added me. Dad was LEO going to college and Mom was an X-ray tech. I found their old budgets and they made just under $850 month combined. Solid middle class but able to spend less than 12% of gross income on a middle class house payment.. can’t be done today.
The credentialed class, the extra administration in academia and throughout gov’t local, State and Federal along with the profusion of Attorneys, therapists and so on have come out OK. The coal miners, steel workers, shipyard workers, manufacturing workers… not so much. The US textile industry got slaughtered by NAFTA and the financial class demanding China be included in WTO. The USA as an open market for the worlds goods while the world sells tariff and other protectionist barriers on our goods, agricultural products hasn’t been beneficial for the broad middle-class. If it was they wouldn’t have voted for Trump to disrupt the globalism they had shoved down their throat.
You’re a hyperbolic idiot, Danny. Regale us with the successes of the GOP the last 2 decades. Go.
You might want to stop by YouTube and watch some of the latest Chinese videos of the collapse of the Chinese economy. Xi will try to save face, but every nation knows Trump is going to win. Our past presidents have been too cowardly to fight for a level playing field.
If you provide Sherlock Holmes to me to help find the American who cares that China suffers more than America I would be glad to see his genius in action.
Our economy is about ourselves and America is suffering right now. That is what I care about.
Except for one small problem: The US only imports 5% of China’s total exports. Get off the drugs, they’re turning your mind into mush. If China cancels all trade to the US it’ll barely be a glitch. You Americans think way too much of yourselves. You’re not important; the world doesn’t care. The only one’s who care is you.
Great. Another retarded Danny has found his way to LI.
Until you fuckers are being invaded, then uncle Sugar has to come tot he rescues to bail you lazy asshats out.
I don’t know where you are from, but the US Police are at you 911 beck and call.
I beat you to it. There’s several in the linked video. Or, if you don’t believe me, how about Shark Kevin O’Leary?
https://www.thestreet.com/retirement/shark-tanks-kevin-oleary-has-blunt-message-on-china-tariffs
I am not surprised he has always had good economic sense.
Remember when you said a week ago that China didn’t use Vietnam to avoid tariffs because they hate each other? Good times, Danny.
You’re such a mindless Uniparty simp that you support continued dependence on our communist enemy. When tariffs are placed on “every actual important item”, you’ll be right here in the LI comments section sky-screaming and toeing that party line.
You are a jackass.
You know full well that Vietnam was not used by China prior to these tariffs and Vietnam in a desperate bid to save her own economy because Trump tariffed the hell out of Vietnam UNPROVOKED and AGAINST PRIOR TREATIES SIGNED with NO WARNING blasted Vietnam to the stone age.
In other words he drove enemies closer together.
You are free to be the jackass who supports eliminating grandma’s savings account and throwing her out on the street while her grandchildren wonder why voting for lower inflation meant higher prices and fewer opportunity.
Normal people want president Trump to keep his promises. I know you can barely read so I will use all caps.
IT’S THE ECONOMY STUPID
Oops! Wrong again, Danny. It’s almost as if you don’t know what you’re talking about. Weird!
https://www.newsmax.com/amp/finance/streettalk/tariff-china/2024/05/14/id/1164730/
https://www.reuters.com/markets/asia/chinese-suppliers-race-vietnam-covid-let-up-opens-escape-route-sino-us-trade-war-2023-03-16/
Throwing grandma in the street, huh? Where have I heard that? Oh yeah, your leftist pals have been saying that for decades. And here you are repeating it like a good, little simp.
By the way if you cared AT ALL about China you would care deeply that Trump changed the Canadian elections from an enemy of China leading two to one to a very close ally of China leading the race.
I was looking forward to the fall of the liberals in Canada but Trump feels that betraying a treaty he wrote for them that they abided by and mocking them non-stop with that 51st state comment and insulting them was more important than getting an enemy of China in as leader of Canada.
If you had anything but the most superficial caring you would care deeply about that.
The stock market is NOT the economy. Frankly stocks are IMO still way overvalued on a P/E basis. Then consider how much of the gain in the S&P 500 last year was concentrated in the MAG7. What was boosting markets since ’08 has been the disastrous monetary policy at Fed Reserve keeping interest at abnormally low rates and boosting money supply. Add huge growth in gov’t spending. It’s an asset bubble propped up just long enough for the smart $ folks to exit before the music ends. When real estate goes, and it will, then the values drop, which means the loans are underwater, which means when markers to true market price those loans shift from assets to liabilities and banks are under capitalized aka insolvent. The only uncertainty is when it occurs.
The vast majority of the assets in financial markets are concentrated in the top 15%. The broad middle-class the 70% in between the top and bottom 15% doesn’t hold nearly as much of the wealth they do have in markets. Their home is their biggest asset. Next are their marketable skills. Then a 401K/IRA. but remember that the average balance of a 401K is $135K ish. That average includes the much higher amounts held by the top 15%. If you got a $1 million in markets you gonna be far more worried about your greater risk exposure than some guy with less than $150K.
The gyrations of the stock market are not the thing to watch to determine the health of the economy look at the # of manufacturing/industrial jobs instead. Look at labor force participation rates. Those indicate the real health of the economy. Not the buy side BS of ‘buy stock b/c stock go up’.
Enlightened self-interest is what makes Free Markets work.. Stop watching the MSDNC commies, Danny! Have some faith! It’s early.
Is it MS-13DNC or MSDNC-13? Gangs with their own propaganda stooges in Western media just looks bad. Not sure why they’re not all being hanged for treason.
Jailing people who harbor Venezuelan invaders is a good start, I must say, old chappie…
DEMS-13
Oh enlightened self interest like not having higher inflation, and more money in peoples bank accounts, and a higher stock market, and better relationships, and China more isolated with enemies on her borders you mean like those self interests?
Elon Musk correctly called out these tariffs.
We are the richest nation and WE have been suffering from these tariffs.
It isn’t a MSNBC thing it is an AMERICA thing to want the AMERICAN economy to work.
Wow! I am absolutely shocked!
How will I ever be able to buy cheap goods from China manufactured by slaves?
Democrats: “Tariffs are bad! They will put people in China and other Asian countries out of work.”
Also Democrats: “We need cheap labor in the US by importing more immigrants from poor countries. After all, We done pick no mo cotton! Who’s going to mow our lawns, watch our kids, clean our hotels, and do jobs Americans don’t want to do?”
Democrats are BIG on slavery.
I saw an interesting article about the dilemma which the Chinese economy faces:
Their economy has low domestic consumption (roughly 38% of the economy) compared to Japan and the EU (about 56%) and the US (75-78%). This leaves them two ways to grow the economy – infrastructure building and exporting goods. Construction had been the golden ticket for internal economic growth but that market is ‘crumbling’ (heh). Hard times because of CoVid closures and the stalling real estate market have reduced domestic goods consumption even more as people save out of worry rather than spend. This leaves China even more dependent on exports. However, the tariffs are killing the export market and reducing employment which means domestic consumption has fallen even farther as factories close and people worry about declining incomes. China’s economy is in a dangerous spiral. Further, China imports roughly 1/3 of their food, much from US farmers. So tariffing US farm goods raises food prices in an already bad economy.
China cannot survive this situation for a full year without serious domestic problems.
On the other hand, American consumers may have to wait for Indian clothing manufacture to ramp up and Thai and Vietnamese companies to get the microwave assembly lines going but those sources are coming and once established those companies are never going to return to China. The government’s approach to the rule of law is too whimsical.
So China is taking a huge risk both in the short-term and the long-term if they don’t accede to the U.S’ demands.
I agree with some, but not all of your comment.
“On the other hand, American consumers may have to wait for Indian clothing manufacture to ramp up and Thai and Vietnamese companies to get the microwave assembly lines going but those sources are coming and once established those companies are never going to return to China.”
Why do American consumers have to wait on other Asian countries to manufacture?
The United States can just as easily get the assembly lines (a uniquely American construct for manufacturing automobiles) going.
I guess we should prop up another country like we have in Korea where we pay for their defense, and they get to bash Americans and sell us goods made by underpaid overworked peasants.
At least in the US, we manufacture, we pay Americans what liberals refer to as fair wages, the payroll money is spent in the US, taxes are collected on those goods, and perhaps some day, we can be the exporter of pharmaceuticals, medical supplies, automobiles, steel, and a host of other durable goods.
But that means that we make America first, and we can’t have that, can we?
There will be some return to US production short term as existing production lines run a 2nd or 3rd shift. Obviously the intermediate/longer term is return of manufacturing both heavy like steel and light like textiles from their outsourced 2nm/3rd world locations to the USA.
IMO we need to use positive incentives to bring back production for basic but extraordinarily needful products. One example is generic RX drugs and OTC drugs like aspirin and Motrin along with standard consumable medical products. Use direct gov’t purchasing for DoD/VA as a start. Leverage Medicare and Medicaid to do the same. Do that and there’s enough market demand to get these made profitability in the USA.
the china first policy is acceptable to the american leftists
but america first attacked by them
Despite what the liar in Chief says, this sounds like the largest tax increase in American history, only under a different name. Some people can’t afford more than Temu.
Danny Staggers?
More like Danny be drunk.