TikTok Gives China a Tariff Workaround

Selling directly to Americans, Chinese manufacturers may be rushing to close sales before new tariffs on May 2 add hefty fees to parcel shipments from China.

Good Morning!

Here are today’s highlights:

• The SBA’s new rules include a return to stricter lending standards.

• Ami Kassar created a safe space for struggling owners to seek help from other owners.

• Amanda Goetz sold her business—and learned a painful lesson.

• A city planner created the largest network of farmers markets in the country and kicked off the farm-to-table movement.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Chinese factories are selling direct to American consumers: “Chinese manufacturers are flooding TikTok and other social media apps with direct appeals to American shoppers, urging people to buy luxury items straight from their factories. And amid the threats of sky-high tariffs on Chinese exports, Americans seem to be all in. The pitch in the videos is that people can buy leggings and handbags exactly like those from brands like Lululemon, Hermes, and Birkenstock, but for a fraction of the price. They claim, often falsely, that the products are made in the same factories that produce items for those brands. American influencers have embraced the videos, promoting the factories and driving downloads of Chinese shopping apps like DHGate and Taobao as a way for shoppers to save money if the price of goods skyrockets under President Trump’s tariffs on Chinese imports.”

• “The videos are surging in popularity on TikTok and Instagram, racking up millions of views and thousands of likes. Many of the posts also seem to have elicited Americans’ sympathy for China in comments, such as ‘Trump bullied the wrong country’ and ‘China won this war.’”

• “The videos offer a rare outlet for Chinese factory owners and workers to speak directly to American consumers through social media apps that are technically banned in China. And their popularity in America highlights increasingly vocal support for China on social media, similar to the outcry over the federal government’s potential ban of TikTok.”

• “Elizabeth Henzie, a 23-year-old in Mooresville, N.C., said she found the manufacturing costs and retail prices described in the videos eye-opening. She made a spreadsheet of factories that claim they are selling dupes of sneakers, luxury bags and more, and linked it in her TikTok profile. That post has attracted more than one million views.” READ MORE