Outraged shoppers stunned by hefty import duties as Trump tariffs take effect

Avid shoppers are already feeling the pain of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, which were officially slapped on all Chinese imports starting Tuesday.

Canada and Mexico, countries the US planned to hit with 25 percent tariffs, managed to convince Trump to put them on hold for a month.

The same didn’t happen with China, which exported $536 billion worth of goods to the US in 2022, making it America’s largest trading partner by far.

Some shoppers took to social media to express their frustration at the tariffs placed on China, claiming they may have already trickled down to the online shopping carts of American consumers.

However, the most likely explanation for the dramatic rise is Trump signing an executive order eliminating a century old customs exemption known as ‘de minimis’ allowing goods worth less than $800 to come into the US duty-free, provided they are shipped directly to individual buyers.

Chinese exports of low-value packages jumped to $66 billion in 2023, up from $5.3 billion in 2018 as brands exploited the exemption.  

Victoria Alario posted a video to TikTok on Wednesday complaining about how much she was being charged for a purchase on Meshki, a women’s boutique clothing store.

She had two items in her cart totaling $304, but duties added another $101.85 to the bill. With regular old sales tax thrown in, her order came out to $441.88.

‘This had me gasping. This caught my eye so quick because I was like, where did that come from,’ Alario said.

On its website, Meshki discloses that its suppliers are based in China, which explains why Alario had to pay an extra hundred dollars for the dresses she wanted.

‘I’m super annoyed because they have the only two dresses that I have liked for my engagement shoot. I have gone on every single website, nobody has cute dresses except for Meshki,’ she said.

Alario doesn’t mention Trump’s tariffs throughout her entire two-minute video, leading her viewers to fill her in on what’s changed in the last several days.

‘It’s the tariffs. If you don’t pay it on their site, you’ll have to pay it via shipping,’ one person commented.

Others mentioned that Trump’s executive order eliminated a customs exemption that allowed goods worth less than $800 to come into the US duty-free – provided they are shipped directly to individual buyers.

Chinese companies had been increasingly taking advantage of this rule, known as Chinese exports of low-value packages jumped to $66 billion in 2023, up from $5.3 billion in 2018.  

Trump’s reversal of the ‘de minimis’ could be devastating for fast fashion brands Meshki, as well as other cheap goods companies such as Shein and Temu.

In Alario’s case, viewers were quick to tell her that she was lucky to have been told about the tariffs by the retailer before making her purchase. 

Another woman who wasn’t as lucky took to social media to share her tariff bill.

Pictured: A woman shows her receipt from DHL applying a $115 duty to her order

President Donald Trump’s stated rationale for imposing tariffs is to punish China (previously Canada and Mexico as well) for not doing enough to stem the flow of illegal migrants and to stop fentanyl from coming into the US

According to her receipt from DHL, a global shipping company, she had to pay a $115.91 duty on her order from Crop Shop Boutique.

Crop Shop Boutique, an Australian athleisure brand, sources and manufactures its items in Turkey and China, according to its website.

‘So I ordered this package from CSB and it’s over $300 and I just got this email from DHL saying I have to pay $115 to accept my package. I can’t. I’m sorry, but I can’t pay that,’ she said.

And it won’t just be clothes that will be affected by the tariffs. 

The US imported $146 billion in electronic products from China in 2023, and companies like Apple and Dell manufacture a large percentage of their inventory there.

Laptops, tablets, video game consoles, smartphones and TVs are all items that will likely have noticeable price increases in the coming days and weeks.

Trump’s stated rationale for imposing tariffs is to punish China (previously Canada and Mexico as well) for not doing enough to stem the flow of illegal migrants and to stop fentanyl from coming into the US.

Canada and Mexico were spared tariffs for 30 days because they each agreed to put a larger military presence at their respective borders to cut down on the movement of drugs and people.

If these temporary agreements don’t end up holding and Trump decides to reinstate tariffs, many more products that Americans rely on every day could get more expensive.

Crude oil, gasoline, lumber, vehicles, alcohol and produce are all things the US imports from Canada and Mexico in large quantities.