American shoppers flock to Chinese apps on tariff fears

Americans are scouring Chinese e-commerce apps for cheap handbags, yoga pants and wallets as shoppers fear homegrown platforms will hike prices due to tariffs. Viral videos touting the high quality, and cheap prices, of goods available on Chinese services have spurred Americans to download apps such as DHgate, which climbed to second place in the free app rankings in Apple’s US App Store, according to data from SensorTower. Shares of CTS International Logistics Corp, which cooperates with DHgate, rose by the 10% daily limit today in Shanghai. Along with DHgate, known as “Dunhuang” in Chinese and dubbed the “Little Yellow App” by some shoppers, Alibaba’s Taobao, and Shein were among the most downloaded shopping apps in the U.S. App Store. Chinese TikTok creators fuel viral shopping surge Chinese suppliers and manufacturers are taking to TikTok to share videos aimed at showing foreigners the “source of good goods.” Many of the videos, which claim that handbags and clothes of high-end European brands are actually all sourced from Chinese manufacturers, provide links to websites and contact details, leading viewers to place orders directly with these vendors. “You do not need to play the Hermès game for the same exact thing. Save your money and get your Birkins and Mini Kellys just in time for summer 2025,” captioned a trending TikTok video promoting Hermès bags on DHgate. From Birkin bags to Lululemon dupes: Low prices draw attention A counterfeit version of a $1,490 Louis Vuitton pochette wallet was offered for just $3.24 on the Chinese app. More than 100 have been sold, data from the app showed. A pair of Lululemon yoga pants, retailing for $98, was on sale for just $13. More than 10,000 have been sold, the app data showed. Last week, DHgate issued an open letter to merchants about its “Tariff Escort Plan,” pledging to provide traffic, subsidies, logistics, and other support for merchants to help them reduce cost pressure and stabilize sales. The platform says it now hosts more than 2.6 million registered suppliers that produce an average of more than 30 million online products per year. It covers some 200 countries and regions, owns more than 10 overseas warehouses and provides over 100 logistic routes. DHgate was founded in 2004 by Wang Shutong, the co-founder of joyo.com, one of China’s earliest e-commerce platforms that was later acquired by Amazon.com. Dubbed the “female Jack Ma,” Wang previously worked for Microsoft and Cisco Systems before setting up her own company.

American shoppers flock to Chinese apps on tariff fears

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Published April 16, 2025

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American shoppers flock to Chinese apps on tariff fears