Secondhand clothing is in fashion — and Trump's tariffs are helping

As tariffs propulsion the terms of goods successful the US higher, the secondhand covering manufacture could reap the benefits.

President Donald Trump archetypal imposed a 10% tariff connected Chinese goods successful February. Since then, some countries person been stacking up retaliatory levies connected each other.

As it stands, the US tariff connected goods imported from China is 145%, and a commercialized loophole called "de minimis," which meant retailers didn't person to wage import taxes oregon duties connected shipments valued astatine little than $800, expired connected Friday. China has placed a 125% tariff connected American goods.

The loophole had been particularly affable to fast-fashion giants similar Shein and Temu, which antecedently could nonstop ultra-low-cost items from China nonstop to customers successful the US without paying immoderate duty.

Price hikes

Millions of American consumers were attracted to these online stores for their affordable products and clearance sales, offering rock-bottom prices and monolithic sales. But some firms said they would beryllium raising prices arsenic a effect of tariffs.

This could truly assistance secondhand covering stores, which are apt to beryllium a cheaper alternative.

"We've already seen user slowdown and spending successful the US," Danielle Testa, adjunct prof astatine the Arizona State University Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, told Business Insider.

The University of Michigan's consumer sentiment index was down astir 20 points from the commencement of the twelvemonth to 52.2 successful April, its lowest level since 2022, erstwhile inflation deed 9%.

'Made successful America'

"A batch of our covering comes from extracurricular of the US, precise small is made successful the US, truthful we bash expect terms increases crossed the committee connected manner products, which volition thrust radical to immoderate secondhand options due to the fact that you bypass the tariffs if they're already successful the US apparel market," Testa said.

According to the American Apparel and Footwear Association, lone astir 3% of covering and shoes successful the US are made domestically. The remainder are predominantly imported from China, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, and different countries — each of which present look tariffs.

"During periods of economical uncertainty, consumers question value, and thrifting often increases," David Eagles, main operating serviceman astatine Goodwill Industries International, told BI.

"Economic pressures thin to heighten the absorption connected astute spending and meaningful giving, truthful we expect involvement successful secondhand buying to increase, driven by some economical and sustainability factors."

The secondhand marketplace is already increasing sharply. Reseller ThredUp predicts it volition scope $73 cardinal by 2028 successful the US and $350 cardinal globally, up from $197 cardinal successful 2023.

Slowing accumulation down

With prices apt to summation further, US consumers whitethorn soon beryllium forced to look for options extracurricular the accelerated manner industry.

ThredUp was 1 of the voices advocating for closing the de minimis exemption, calling it "a captious measurement successful addressing the unsustainable travel of ultra-fast manner into the US" successful a caller statement.

"We cannot beryllium going done things truthful quickly, between, you know, producing them, wearing them, oregon sometimes not wearing them, earlier disposing of them," Patsy Perry, scholar successful manner selling astatine the Manchester Metropolitan University, told BI.

"But we truly request to support things successful usage for longer, different it's a implicit discarded of each the resources," she said, outlining the galore steps that are portion of making clothes, including sourcing earthy materials, accumulation successful a factory, transporting the finished good, and each of the radical progressive astatine the antithetic stages of the proviso chain.

Perry explained that recycling isn't a solution yet due to the fact that we don't person the exertion astatine scale. Also, retailers that bash nutrient apparel from recycled materials are usually beyond the mean consumer's fund range.

"We've truly got to benignant of wed up the accumulation of amended things with the usage, oregon the much considered usage, of things," she said.

There's thing for everyone, nary substance what your fund is, Perry said. You person your kilo sales, thrift stores and foundation shops, arsenic good arsenic luxury consignments, she added.