However Shein and Temu didn’t cease advertising altogether. As a substitute, each firms selected to shift their advert budgets overseas to areas the place the geopolitical dangers have been perceived to be decrease and development alternatives extra ample. Shein spent 22 % of its general promoting spend within the US market throughout the second quarter, in comparison with 39 % within the first three months of 2025, based on Sensor Tower. Temu’s US spend, in the meantime, went from 47 % to merely 9 %. Consequently, Shein and Temu’s gross sales in international locations aside from the US, such because the UK, have surged to record highs.
However the dip didn’t final lengthy. After hitting all-time low in June, each firms started ramping again up their US advert spending in July, Shah’s knowledge reveals. In August, Shein spent extra on advertising within the US than it did in August 2024.
The figures replicate the truth that the Chinese language platforms had discovered a brand new playbook: continue shipping products regardless of the tariffs, cross some prices to customers, and keep aggressive by specializing in constructing unbiased provide chains and warehouse networks that may assist hold transport prices down.
App retailer charts recommend that the brand new technique is working. After a quick slide in recognition earlier this yr, Shein and Temu have been now as soon as once more rating throughout the prime 5 apps within the procuring class of the US Apple App Retailer and Google Play retailer as of Wednesday.
Temu and Shein didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark from WIRED.
Behind the Curve
The large Chinese language platforms had been getting ready for the tip of de minimis for greater than a yr and have been capable of shortly recalibrate their logistics methods when the tariffs lastly went into effect. The identical can’t be stated for unbiased outlets.
Denys, the Ukrainian Etsy store proprietor, says he’s anticipating needing to lift the worth of his merchandise to remain afloat. “If the brand new tariffs stay, costs will inevitably enhance by no less than that 10 % sooner or later,” he says.
He has lately begun working with a neighborhood Ukrainian transport firm referred to as NovaPost, which stepped in to assist sellers navigate customs procedures and pledged to shoulder a part of the payment will increase for native firms. The state of affairs in Ukraine is much much less chaotic than in different components of the world, the place many postal firms have fully halted sending packages to the US due to ongoing confusion over the small print of Trump’s commerce insurance policies.
I believe all of us profit from with the ability to store from small distributors all over the world. Over the previous few years, I’ve bought a 3D-printed topographic map from Canada, artwork prints from Germany, and Denys’ woodwork from Ukraine. I didn’t got down to store from overseas manufacturers, however fashionable world ecommerce platforms gave me entry to a wider vary of merchandise, which have been usually bought at decrease costs than the products in close by retail shops. Wanting studying carpentry myself, Denys’ Etsy store in Ukraine might be the best choice for getting reasonably priced custom-made woodwork to my residence in New York Metropolis.
However with the tip of de minimis, many People may select to chop again on shopping for artisanal items and different nonessential objects from overseas. If that occurs, small sellers would be the ones hit the toughest. “This principally impacts impulse shopping for after which issues we don’t want,” Juozas Kaziukėnas, an ecommerce platform analyst, told my colleague Boone Ashworth. “It is not affecting the worth of milk, for instance.”
I’m nonetheless ready for my picket slats, which Denys says ought to lastly clear customs quickly. I’m hoping that companies like his are capable of survive on this new ecosystem. In any other case, I might need no alternative however to take up carpentry, however who is aware of how a lot I must pay in tariffs on my new woodworking instruments?
That is an version of Zeyi Yang and Louise Matsakis’ Made in China newsletter. Learn earlier newsletters here.
