By Alexandros Sainidis
Back in the Soviet Union, one of the most common goods smuggled were jeans. Practical, durable, stylish and, above all, cultural. The preference for the jeans was a sign of cultural weakness for Russia and USSR. Now the superpower that has dangerously good momentum is China. Do we want Chinese ‘jeans’ as much as Russians did? Not quite.
What China offers is not a type of clothing. It offers cheap clothes and therefore affordable flexibility for any occasion. Comfort. It’s funny, however, as this makes it an economic phenomenon, rather than a cultural one. What do I mean? Jeans are American, just as wooden shoes are Dutch. But low cost and little regard for the environment is not a Chinese product; it’s not unique Chinese ‘supply’. It’s a direct Western product, created by Western demand and consumerism.
Therefore, it’s easier to play with tariffs around Shein and Temu, two retail titans of China who follow the rules of economics and not culture, such as in the case of jeans. Until May, they had the privilege of small package tariff exception in the United States. Moreover, there are additional duties at 54% or a fee of 100$ in the event they are sent through the postal service. Tariffs, naturally, increase the price of products. It’s like throwing a rock over a wall – the taller the wall built by tariffs, the more energy is spent by the thrower to get it to the other side. This way, the Chinese advantage of small price diminishes.
The trade war has obviously made Chinese retailers desire European penetration as an alternative market. While not being the economy it promised to be, surely the lower purchasing power in many European Countries is a point of exploitation for Shein and Temu. Albeit, things are looking bad in Europe as well. There is a high focus on safety, sustainability and regulation that is both economic and technocratic. And on top of that, Europe often echoes what America does, especially when the two Chinese entities gather data and make ground for a range of cybersecurity issues. The cherry on top of the cake are bills, such as a new French one, banning advertising for fast-fashion companies. The essence is in the details: it bans “ultra” fast fashion, unlike normal fast fashion retailers of European origin, including Zara and H&M.
The Chinese fashion that the world wants is a product of the West and not exclusive to China. If it was just like the jeans, it would be a different story. Also, smuggling is often expensive, which defeats the point of cheap products. Culture makes the difference between mild discomfort and major wants. This is what makes it a good case for the observation of value perception.
