The Devil Wears Temu

The US tariffs could be a forced end to fast fashion obsession 

Art / Olive Bartlett-Mowat

In high school, I wouldn’t dare show up to a party in the same outfit twice. Why would I, when Shein, Temu, and AliExpress let me reinvent my wardrobe overnight for less than the price of a block of butter? 

When the devil wears Temu, it’s easy to follow him – especially when he’s offering free shipping. 

I didn’t think about the environmental destruction or the human cost. I was thinking about my bank accounts — even if the clothes barely lasted a few weeks. 

But this era of throwaway fashion might finally be coming to an end. 

Trump’s new tariffs aren’t exactly a win for anyone. We’re facing a future where KiwiSaver feels unpredictable, imports get pricier, jobs become unstable, and inflation creeps higher.   

However, these tariffs could cause the downfall of ultra-fast fashion giants like Temu, Shein, and AliExpress with the scrapping of the ‘de minimis exemption’.   

Originally introduced by the US Congress in 1938, the de minimis rule allowed packages under $800 USD (roughly $1300 NZD) to avoid import taxes and customs inspection. This has helped businesses access cheap overseas materials quickly.  

Fast fashion platforms have exploited this loophole to flood the US with low-cost, lightly regulated goods. In 2024, EuroNewsBI reported that nearly four million packages a day entered the US under this exemption, many from Chinese platforms.  

This all ended three days ago on May 2nd.   

With bulk shipments from China already facing tariffs as high as 145%, closing this loophole means even the cheapest items now face massive fees. Fast fashion companies thrived on low prices and low barriers — now, their entire business model is at risk.   

Let’s put it this way. If Shein sells a $5 T-shirt, they could now face a 120% import tax — that’s $6 in tariffs for a $5 item. In some cases, they might be hit with a flat fee of $100 per package, regardless of value. Either way, your $5 shirt could end up costing over $100, which is too expensive for customers, and unprofitable for the company.  

Jason Wong, a Temu product logistics worker in Hong Kong, told The Guardian, “Everyone’s just pulling up their pants and bracing for impact”.  

“We know it’s going to be a mess,” he adds.   

Because the demands from the US and North America are going to significantly decrease, Wong said that the company may make more of a push in Europe and Australia — which has its own de minimis rule where items under $1000 AUD ($1075.36 NZD) are exempt from custom inspections and some taxes. 

However, this fast fashion push to countries other than the US won't necessarily mean more of it in New Zealand.  

A lot of our online shopping orders come from countries like Bangladesh, Indonesia, China, and India, and they often pass through places like Singapore or Vietnam on the way to New Zealand. If these stopover countries follow suit and start charging tariffs on goods passing through their customs, it could make shipping more expensive -- even though the extra cost isn’t coming from New Zealand itself. 

Trump’s new tariffs might just end the 25-year era of endless, ultra-cheap shopping. But how are we going to satisfy our itch for retail therapy now? 

Enter: Second-hand fashion.   

Thrifting has always been here, but it might finally get the traffic it deserves. In a post tariff economy, cost-conscious shoppers may turn to resale — both in search of bargains and to earn cash from their wardrobes.   

According to Sensor Tower, app downloads for nine major American resale marketplaces — including eBay, Poshmark, Mercari, Depop, ThredUp, and Vinted — rose 3% in the first quarter of 2025. It’s their first quarterly growth in three years.  

American resale platform, ThredUp, released a statement in April which applauded the removal of the de minimis exemption, calling it “a critical step in addressing the unsustainable flow of ultra-fast fashion into the U.S”. 

This year, ThredUp conducted a survey finding that nearly 59% of consumers said they’d switch to second-hand fashion if tariffs drove up prices for new clothing. The company hopes the tariffs signal a move toward a circular economy, where clothes are reused and waste is reduced. 

While the US is taking the lead in making fast fashion unsustainable in the market, other countries are also starting to make similar changes. The European Union is pushing for stricter import regulations, carbon taxes, and penalties for e-commerce platforms. Singapore is reviewing its customs policies. Vietnam, once seen as a safer sourcing alternative to China, is now caught in escalating trade tensions.  

While the tariffs are awful, they might be the first of many blows to an industry long overdue for reform.  

In recent years, clothes have become more commodities than keepsakes. According to ProjectCece, the average Westerner buys 60% more clothes than in the year 2000, but only wears them less than seven times.  

Behind every low-cost item is a trail of environmental destruction. According to the Apparel Impact Institute, the manufacturing of clothing is responsible for 2 to 8% of annual greenhouse gas emissions. This is more than all international flights and maritime shipping combined. And every year, landfills are filled with 40 million tons of discarded clothing.    

The human cost is also horrific — child labour, low wages, and unsafe working conditions run rampant in fast fashion factories. Garment workers are often paid as low as $5.74 NZD per day, sometimes in life threatening conditions.   

In 2013, Rana Plaza – a fast fashion factory in Bangladesh – collapsed, killing 1,134 people and leaving over 2500 injured. The eight-storey building manufactured some of the Western world’s biggest brands, like Prada, Versace, Zara, H&M, Mango, Walmart and Primark.  

Leading up to the collapse, garment workers raised concerns of growing cracks in a wall which were worsened by the vibrations of a two-tonne generator on the roof. However, the factory managers told them they would lose their jobs if they didn’t continue working in these conditions.   

Fast fashion workers are quite literally risking their lives for the clothes we toss after one season.   

As tariffs tighten and trade loopholes close, the days of $5 T-shirts arriving at your door might be numbered. The ultra-fast fashion era is being forced to reckon with its true cost – not only in dollars, but in environmental destruction, human suffering, and the devaluation of clothing itself.  

If the devil wears Temu, maybe it’s time we stopped dressing like him.