Chinese suppliers use the Tiktok To promote direct sales to US consumers, inviting them to bypass the extra duties of 145% imposed by the US president on imports from China.
In a video released on Tiktok, Wang Saint, who is self -characterized as an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) for well -known luxurious brands, appears in front of a Birkin bags wall, inviting the public to buy directly from factories.
“Why don’t you communicate with us and buy from us? You will not believe the prices we will give you, ”says St. in the video.
However, Tiktok removed this video. Meanwhile, DHGATE, an online wholesale store that is notorious for the sale of Chinese luxury imitation, has been launched at number 2 at the American Apple Apple Store. Taobao, China’s authentic e -commerce website, is at number 7.
CNN says it is extremely unlikely that these sellers are official suppliers for chips such as Lululemon and Chanel. Authentic manufacturers are usually bound by confidentiality conventions, which makes it unlikely to open the opening of authentic products through Tiktok.
However, videos not only highlight the concern that consumer duties are causing, but also reveal how much buyers are based on China. The creators of the videos are promoting the message that, despite the White House’s insistence that their economic policies are putting America first, the same policies will make the American consumer lose access to his favorite products or pay more for them.
“This is how it is now a trade war,” he wrote a comment under a video claiming that it concerns the suppliers of the Lululemon leggings and has over 1.5 million likes. Tiktok did not respond to CNN’s request for commentary.
“You don’t really buy directly from these companies”
In a video, an influencer named Lunasourcingchina promotes two factories that, he claims, are in the city of Gigu, known for the huge wholesale market, saying that the Lululemon Sports Clothing Company supplies 98 dollars directly from those factories.
“I imagine most of you know the price of Lululemon products or other big brands … And guess, here in these two factories you can get them with five or six dollars,” he says in the video.
Lululemon, however, immediately denied these allegations.
In a statement on Monday, the company said that “it does not work with the manufacturers appearing in these videos and urges consumers to be careful about possible falsified products and misinformation.”
According to the CNN report, the two factories mentioned in Tiktok are not included in the Lululemon suppliers list for April 2025. The company actually works with factories in mainland China, but also has suppliers in countries such as Vietnam, Peru and Cambodia.
However, any factory that offers direct orders to US consumers is probably not legal, experts say.
According to Hao Dong, a senior lecturer in business operational operations at the University of Southampton, any manufacturer who works with luxury brands is committed to strict contracts that prohibit the disclosure of this collaboration. It is certain that they would not publicly sell these branded products online.
CNN reports that products displayed in Tiktok videos are likely to be high quality imitations or counterfeit, something Lululemon has previously tried to fight.
What do experts say
Finally, the exact bags and watches that bear the “made in italy” or “made in switzerland” are actually manufactured in China? The answer is not “not a clear yes, not a clear no,” Rejina Fry Fry, a professor of sustainable and circular systems at the University of the Arts London, told CNN.
Many luxury brands pretend certain species or materials in China before assembled the finished product in France and Italy. This may include complicated watches or packaging branded products. However, due to opaque practices in the supply chains of luxury products, there is no way to know with certainty, as Fry explains. Even factories in Italy or other countries may have links with China, such as foreign property or administration.
“If we are talking about very expensive handbags that require manual labor, they are very likely to start being assembled elsewhere and be completed, say, in France,” he adds.
Thus, even if some parts of luxury products are manufactured in China, their purchase from Tiktok warehouses does not ensure either quality control or security. In addition, no refunding are provided.
It also remains unclear how these products – even if purchased directly by Chinese manufacturers – could avoid duty 145% announced by Donald Trump. Experts predict that even products coming from platforms such as TEMU and Aliexpress will be expensive by removing tax exemption for parcels worth $ 800.
Facing consumerism
As these videos gain mass appeal, the United States dependence on international – and most importantly Chinese – supply chains comes to light, bringing to light a question that has remained buried on the sidelines of American consumer culture for years?
“If China stopped producing, our stores would be empty,” says Fry.
However, the debate also highlights the environmental costs of mass consumption directly from Chinese factories – a trend that took off with the rise of platforms such as Shein and Temu, which have benefited from the tax exemption soon to be abolished.
Shipping packages separately around the world is, as Fry notes, “ecological disaster”. These products are usually wrapped in plastic and transported by airplanes or cargo ships, leaving behind a huge carbon footprint. And very often, these cheap species end up in the trash.
“Are we watching the death of capitalism?” a user humorously commented on Tiktok.
The article Chinese suppliers bypass TIKTOK duties: New Front in Commercial War was published in NewsIT .