The End of Fast Fashion?

The Daily

The New York Times

Daily News, News

4.4 • 102.8K Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

For years, American consumers have been able to spend next to nothing on the latest fashion trends, thanks in large part to Chinese clothing companies like Shein and Temu. These businesses have long used a loophole to send millions of packages a day into the U.S. from China tax-free. Now, President Trump is closing that loophole, even as he de-escalates his larger trade war with China, and prices are going up. Meaghan Tobin, who covers business and technology in Asia, discusses whether this might be the end for fast fashion.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey everyone, so I have a haul.
0:05.2	From the New York Times, I'm Katzen Ben Holt.
0:08.2	This is The Daily.
0:10.3	Yay! Yay! Stop it!
0:13.3	Y'all, the box is so heavy.
0:15.6	Yeah, $1 shirt, $2 shirts, $3 shirts, $5 dresses.
0:19.6	Like, it was ridiculous.
0:21.2	For years, American consumers have been able to spend next to nothing on the latest
0:25.6	fashion trends.
0:27.0	So for a sweatshirt, a t-shirt, and a tank top, the total was $14.82 off of Sheehan.
0:34.5	If you want to be a baddie on a a budget, Sheen is the way to go.
0:38.1	Thanks in large part to Chinese clothing companies like Sheehan.
0:42.2	It might be the overconsumption final boss because I keep buying the same things,
0:46.7	just different colors and in different fonts.
0:49.4	But have long used a loophole to send millions of packages a day
0:52.7	into the U.S. from China, tax-free.
0:57.7	But now...
0:59.0	She and these new prices got me looking like, what the fuck?
1:04.4	President Trump is killing that loophole.
1:07.8	Even as he de-escalates his larger trade war with China. A dress I had on my car was like
1:12.3	$9. It's $18 now. They were in plane. And prices are going up. What if like prices just like
1:19.6	never go down? Like what if I could never get a mini skirt for $7 ever again? Like I'm scared.
	...

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