Deals are not gonna last Trump’s tariffs trigger price hikes at large online retailers Americans will soon pay more for cheap online items amid tariff chaos. Ashley Belanger – Apr 18, 2025 10:55 am | 55 A view of the booth of Temu, a Chinese e-commerce platform focusing on foreign markets, during a trade fair in China. Credit: Feature China / Contributor | Future Publishing A view of the booth of Temu, a Chinese e-commerce platform focusing on foreign markets, during a trade fair in China. Credit: Feature China / Contributor | Future Publishing Story text Size Small Standard Large Width * Standard Wide Links Standard Orange * Subscribers only   Learn more Popular online shopping meccas Temu and Shein have finally broken their silence, warning of potential price hikes starting next week due to Donald Trump's tariffs. Temu is a China-based e-commerce platform that has grown as popular as Amazon for global shoppers making cross-border purchases, according to 2024 Statista data. Its tagline, "Shop like a billionaire," is inextricably linked to the affordability of items on its platform. And although Shein—which vows to make global fashion "accessible to all" by selling inexpensive stylish clothing—moved its headquarters from China to Singapore in 2022, most of its products are still controversially manufactured in China, the BBC reported. For weeks, the US-China trade war has seen both sides spiking tariffs. In the US, the White House last night crunched the numbers and confirmed that China now faces tariffs of up to 245 percent, The Wall Street Journal reported. That figure includes new tariffs Trump has imposed, taxing all Chinese goods by 145 percent, as well as prior 100 percent tariffs lobbed by the Biden administration that are still in effect on EVs and Chinese syringes. Last week, China announced that it would stop retaliations, CNBC reported. But that came after China rolled out 125 percent tariffs on US goods. While China has since accused Trump of weaponizing tariffs to "an irrational level," other retaliations have included increasingly cutting off US access to critical minerals used in tech manufacturing and launching antitrust probes into US companies. For global retailers, the tit-for-tat tariffs have immediately scrambled business plans. Particularly for Temu and Shein, Trump's decision to end the “de minimis” exemption on May 2—which allowed shipments valued under $800 to be imported duty-free—will soon hit hard, exposing them to 90 percent tariffs that inevitably led to next week's price shifts. According to The Guardian, starting on June 1, retailers will have to pay $150 tariffs on each individual package. It's unclear how high prices on Temu and Shein could go, but neither company is willing to wait before overhauling their price models. In Shein's announcement, the fashion retailer only explained that it "will be making price adjustments starting April 25, 2025," due to operating expenses going up. And Temu issued a nearly identical statement, AP News reported. US shoppers are already decreasing retail spending, CNN noted last month, while many reports documented rushes to buy big-ticket items like laptops or smartphones before tariffs kicked in. Analysts fear that retail spending will continue decreasing, potentially hurting the US economy the longer tariffs drag on. Whether price increases will meaningfully deter loyal Temu and Shein shoppers in the long term, though, is uncertain. The Guardian noted that US shoppers may end up caving and paying more for items simply because these platforms could remain the cheapest option. Even US-based Amazon can't escape tariffs, with Chinese sellers warning of price hikes last week and CEO Andy Jassy generally forecasting that costs of tariffs will likely be passed on to consumers. Ars could not immediately assess if Shein's or Temu's traffic has spiked after announcing imminent price hikes, but Similarweb provided data suggesting that Temu has scaled way back on paid advertising, causing an 80 percent decrease in paid search traffic. This potentially suggests that if Temu cuts corners on ads, it could also drive away shoppers, potentially further destabilizing the platform's price models. Ahead of the next wave of market disruptions, Shein encouraged customers to "shop now at today’s rates" to get the best bargains before tariffs kick in. "We’re doing everything we can to keep prices low and minimize the impact on you," Shein said. Ashley Belanger Senior Policy Reporter Ashley Belanger Senior Policy Reporter Ashley is a senior policy reporter for Ars Technica, dedicated to tracking social impacts of emerging policies and new technologies. She is a Chicago-based journalist with 20 years of experience. 55 Comments