Chinese manufacturers are going viral on TikTok for allegedly ‘exposing’ US luxury fashion brands and telling users the “price is very cheap.”
It comes as a reaction to the tariffs President Donald Trump imposed on imported goods, with China being hit the hardest at 145%.
One business claiming to sell Hermes, Dior and Gucci told users to “listen” as he urged people to buy directly from China, saying he can deliver anywhere.
Chinese manufactures have gone viral for pushing direct sales on TikTok after Donald Trump hiked tariffs to 145%
Image credits: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
Guangzhou Leather Bags told users: “Here, here listen, the bag is very good, price is very cheap, $24 if you like.”
The viral posts appear to be a coordinated social media effort by Chinese businesses claiming that popular luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton do business with suppliers in China.
In one video, watched over 1 million times, a user called Wang Sen says: “More than 80% of the luxury bags in the world are made in China, but those luxury brands won’t acknowledge that.”
“They take almost finished bags from Chinese factories back to their own countries and just do the repackaging and logo installing—that way the bags will appear in their boutiques as ‘Made in Italy’ or ‘Made in France.’”
In another video, he appears to suggest that his factory makes Hermes and Chanel products.
Other TikToks, filmed in Chinese factories and showing goods, claim brands such as Lululemon manufacture $100 leggings for as little as $6
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Lower-cost fashion brands such as Zara and H&M also feature in some of the videos.
But, is there any truth to the viral claims?
Most of the luxury brands flagged in the videos say they do not manufacture in China.
Lululemon confirmed that about 3% of its finished goods are made in China but says authentic products are only available to purchase from official stores.
Prada manufactures most of its bags in Italy, but has production sites in France, the UK and Romania.
Louis Vuitton says it makes items in France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland and the U.S.
Image credits: Neon Wang/unsplash.com
Hermes production, meanwhile, is carried out in France and is supplemented by 12 manufacturers in other countries, located in Switzerland, Italy, the UK, the U.S., Portugal and Australia.
There are also strict labeling regulations in the U.S. and Europe that would prevent brands from using a ‘Made in France’ or ‘Made in Italy’ label without substantial manufacturing of the product taking place there.
Many of the videos were posted in March after Donald Trump announced his new tariffs but have only gained traction in recent days.
Some experts believe the goods being promoted are counterfeit and part of a concerted effort to counter the new tariffs.
“This campaign appears to be a calculated attempt to undermine President Trump’s tariff policy on China by leveraging TikTok to promote Chinese manufacturing as cheaper, more desirable, and accessible—even in defiance of trade restrictions,” said Alex Goldenberg, senior advisor at the Network Contagion Research Project, an organization that identifies the spread of misinformation on social media, Bloomberg reports.
The recent videos could be an effort to promote counterfeit and dupe products during Trump’s tariff chaos, experts told The Independent.
The viral posts appear to be a coordinated effort by Chinese businesses that claim goods can be purchased cheaper directly
Image credits: Jonathan J. Castellon/unsplash.com
Conrad Quilty-Harper, the author of a newsletter about the luxury goods industry, said: “They’re trying to conflate the fake manufacturers in China with the real manufacturers.”
“They’re very clever with their social media, and they’re very effective at driving demand in the West,” he added.
The U.S. and China are locked in a trade war after Trump raised tariffs on Chinese goods to 145% last week, while announcing a 90-day pause for some tariffs on other countries.
His administration has said smartphones, laptops and some other electronic products would get a tariff exemption, but on Sunday, Trump posted on Truth Social saying no one was “off the hook,” “especially not China.”
“There was no Tariff ‘exception’ announced on Friday. These products are subject to the existing 20% Fentanyl Tariffs, and they are just moving to a different Tariff ‘bucket,’” he said.
“We are taking a look at Semiconductors and the whole electronics supply chain in the upcoming National Security Tariff Investigations,” Trump added.
In response, China has raised tariffs on US-imported goods to 125%.
The country’s Finance Ministry said in a statement last week: “The U.S. side’s imposition of excessively high tariffs on China seriously violates international economic and trade rules, runs counter to basic economic principles and common sense, and is simply an act of unilateral bullying and coercion.”