Shein is a fast fashion company based in China that has become really popular, especially among teens and young adults. They sell cheap clothes online and ships them straight to people’s homes. But recently the Shein tariffs, part of larger tariffs against China, have come out.
Tariffs are taxes that countries put on products that come from other countries. For example, if a clothing company in the U.S. wants to buy clothes from another country, it usually has to pay a fee to bring them in.
This helps protect U.S companies by making foreign products a bit more expensive.
But Shein found a way around these fees.
In the U.S., there’s a rule called the de minimis rule. It says that if a package is worth less than $800, it doesn’t have to pay any import tax. Since Shein sends out small packages to customers instead of sending big shipments to stores, most of their items skip the tariffs completely.
Some people in the U.S government want to change the rules. They say Shein is using a loophole to avoid taxes and could be taking advantage of unfair labor practices.
Shein isn’t the only company that the government has taken notice of that is avoiding the tariffs. Similarly affordable companies, like Temu and AliExpress, are also going to feel the tariffs against China.
Danielle Kanoun, a 9th grader at Pitman High, says:
“I enjoy shopping at Shein, it has lots of clothing options and it’s very cheap. I also like scrolling through all the options when I am bored. When needing something specific, Shein usually has it but it does take at least a week to get it delivered to houses, so I always have to buy it in advance.
In the past I have heard about Shein’s work not following the laws and [manufacturers] being overworked but I never looked into it. Recently I have heard about prices going up from the tariffs.”
Yes, saving money, and buying off Shein is nice but, this issue affects more than just business and politics. It affects us as consumers.
The reason Shein can sell a $5 shirt is partly because it avoids the rules other companies have to follow. That might sound good for shoppers, but it also means local jobs and other businesses are at risk. Plus, there are questions about whether the workers making these clothes are treated fairly.
Shein and tariffs may seem like a boring topic, but it truly impacts the prices we pay, the clothes we wear, and how fair the global marketplace is. As the government tries to figure out what to do, it is highly important for us young people to understand how big companies can affect our economy and everyday lives.