Shein says it swung to a quarterly loss as its sales slowed after US President Donald Trump removed an import duty exemption on small packages.
The fast‑fashion giant, headquartered in Singapore but founded in China, announced a $99m loss for the first quarter of the year, a sharp fall from the $395m net income recorded in the same period a year earlier.
The company is preparing for its planned Hong Kong initial public offering, though no details on the size, timetable or pricing have been disclosed. Shein said it is exploring options including raising US prices to offset the increased tariffs and taxes.
The loss also reflected a $328m paper loss triggered by an accounting change for special investor shares, which can later be converted into ordinary stock.
Active customer data shows 281 million users worldwide placed more than one billion orders in the year to the end of March 2026, a 16% rise on the previous year.
On 10 July the China Securities Regulatory Commission gave final approval for Shein’s Hong Kong listing after earlier attempts to list in New York and London failed. The IPO is expected to take place in the coming months.
The figures illustrate the impact of a Trump‑signed executive order that ended the global de‑minimis exemption for goods valued at $800 or less. The exemption had previously allowed US consumers to buy low‑cost items from online platforms such as Shein and Temu without tariffs. The White House stated the exemption was being used to "evade tariffs and funnel synthetic opioids" into the US.
Early July the EU imposed a €3 levy on low‑value e‑commerce imports, a measure aimed at curbing what the bloc views as unfair competition from China.
Shein said the removal of the de‑minimis exemption had an adverse impact on its US sales and overall revenue growth. The company is also dealing with delays and higher costs caused by the ongoing Iran war.
