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Recently, according to foreign media reports, as the United States is about to cancel the tax-free policy on key imports, the prices of goods on Shein and Temu in the US market have begun to rise sharply.

Since April 25, consumers have found that the prices of many goods on the two platforms have increased significantly. Previously, due to the tariff exemption rules, a single import value of less than $800 was exempt from tariffs, allowing platforms such as Shein and Temu to sell a large number of low-priced goods made in China to the United States at very competitive prices. However, according to the executive order signed by US President Donald Trump this month, this tax-free policy will officially end on May 2.

After the new regulations are implemented, low-priced goods imported into the United States will face a high tariff of 120%, or a fixed fee of $100 per package, which will further rise to $200 per package on June 1. Affected by this, a set of outdoor chairs on Temu, which was previously priced at $61.72, rose to $70.17 in one day; a set of swimsuits on Shein, which originally cost $4.39, rose to $8.39, an increase of 91%. However, there are also individual product price cuts, such as a smart ring on the Temu platform, which has dropped by about $3, showing that price changes are not completely consistent due to inventory adjustments or algorithmic pricing mechanisms.

In response to the upcoming US tariffs, Shein has also raised the prices of a variety of products. Data shows that on April 22, the prices of dozens of popular products in the women's clothing category on the Shein platform increased, and the average price of the top 100 products increased from $8.68 to $9.06, an increase of more than 4%.

From April 24 to April 26, Shein's prices in the United States rose by about 10% overall. The average price of the top 100 products in the beauty and health category rose by 51% from April 24, and the prices of several products more than doubled. Home, kitchen supplies and toys rose by an average of 30%, among which the price of a 10-piece kitchen paper towel set rose by as much as 377%. The increase in women's clothing was 8%. For example, a swimsuit on the Shein platform was priced at US$4.39 on April 24, but it rose to US$8.39 on the 25th, an increase of 91%.

During this period, 7 of the 50 products sampled have been removed from the US. In contrast, Shein's prices in the UK remained largely unchanged, and no items were removed from the list. Of the 43 items in the US shopping cart, 30 had prices that increased by more than 10% in two days.

In response to rising costs, Shein and Temu notified users of price adjustments through official website announcements earlier this month, and encouraged consumers to place orders before April 25 to lock in the old prices. Both companies said that due to changes in global trade rules and tariffs, operating expenses have increased significantly, so they have to raise prices to try to maintain product quality and reduce the impact on consumers. However, it is not clear whether U.S. Customs will impose new tariffs on these orders if the goods arrive after May 2.

The impact of this tariff change is particularly obvious on low-income American consumers. According to a study by economists from UCLA and Yale University, about 48% of duty-free packages are sent to the poorest zip codes in the United States, compared with only 22% in wealthy areas. Previous data showed that in 2021, the proportion of income spent on clothing by the lowest-income households in the United States was more than three times that of the richest households. For these consumers who rely on Shein and Temu platforms to buy daily necessities, clothing and household goods, price increases may greatly limit the affordability and access to their basic goods.

In addition to Shein and Temu, other brands such as Best Buy, Nintendo, AutoZone and Hermes have also raised prices for some products in response to the upcoming tariff policy. The new tariff policy is expected to change the low-price competition pattern of cross-border e-commerce platforms and end the era of super-low-priced overseas goods for American consumers. SmartScout data shows that since April 9, the prices of nearly 1,000 products on Amazon.com in the United States have risen sharply, covering multiple categories such as clothing, household goods, electronics, toys, etc., with an average price increase of nearly 30%. For example, the price of a power bank has increased from US$110 to US$135, an increase of more than 20%.

Against this backdrop, users of Shein and Temu may find that there are fewer and fewer high-quality and low-priced products on the platform, and the uncertainty of shopping is also increasing. According to data provided by Similarweb, in the week before April 25, the number of app downloads of Shein and Temu increased, among which the number of iOS and Android app downloads of Shein increased by nearly 20%, but the number of daily active users decreased by 14%. Temu's app downloads fell by 22% and daily active users fell by 22% during the same period. At the same time, the two platforms' digital advertising spending in the United States has also dropped significantly. For example, Shein's market share in Google Shopping ads fell from 20% on March 31 to 10% on April 15, and Temu's advertising fell by nearly 20%.