Fashion brands and retailers can deal with the increased cost of the White House’s additional “Liberation Day” tariffs in one of three ways: absorb the premiums, yoke them on their suppliers or pass at least a portion of them to their customers as they continue to navigate an extremely trying, fluid and uncertain time. The third route is no longer a hypothetical. A recent study from analytics firm DataWeave found that the prices of apparel have jumped by as much as 2 percent and footwear by almost 4 percent over the past six months. Joor, a digital wholesale platform, also expects brands and retailers to hike up prices by an average of 20 percent. Here are some of the household names that say they’re being forced to increase the pain at the till.
Related Stories
Macy’s
While Macy’s CFO Adrian Mitchell said during the company’s earnings call in May that the retailer has been able to glean some supplier discounts and that it’s “absorbing some of that price as well,” CEO Tony Spring told investors later that it would be raising prices on some items to make up for any funding gaps.
“[Higher] pricing is working its way into the system slowly,” he said. “That’s why we have taken a more cautious approach to our outlook for the year.” Macy’s also now expects adjusted earnings per share of $1.60 to $2 in 2025, down from its previous estimate of $2.05 to $2.25. About 15 to 40 cents per share of that forecast decrease is a result of the tariffs, Spring told CNBC.
Mitchell said that Macy’s has been reducing exposure to China by renegotiating some orders and canceling others. Some 20 percent of the retailer’s offerings originated in China at the close of the last fiscal year, he said.
Nike
The Just Do It firm told investors late last month that it will have to offset an expected $1 billion tariff-driven increase in costs with a “surgical price increase” with a “phased implementation” in the United States beginning this fall.
“These tariffs represent a new and meaningful cost headwind, and we are taking actions that balance the consumer, our partners, our Win Now actions as well as the long-term positioning of our brands in the marketplace,” chief financial officer Matthew Friend said during a fourth-quarter earnings report, with “Win Now” referring to a strategy CEO Elliot Hill unveiled in March to refer to his turnaround strategy for the sportswear giant.
China represents roughly 16 percent of the footwear Nike import into the United States, Friend said, adding that he expects to reduce this to the “high single-digit range” by the end of fiscal year 2026 with supply from China reallocated to other countries. Imports from China face a 55 percent tariff rate pending an Aug. 12 deadline for returning to higher figures that at their steepest were 145 percent. Nike also faces sticker shock from its other sourcing destinations, including Cambodia (36 percent, down from an original 49 percent), Vietnam (20 percent, down from an original 46 percent), Indonesia (32 percent) and Thailand (36 percent).
Shein and Temu
On April 16, both Chinese-founded e-tailers released near-identical notices informing customers that “due to recent changes in global trade rules and tariffs,” operating expenses have gone up and so would their prices. “To keep offering the products you love without compromising on quality, we will be making price adjustments starting April 25, 2025,” the two previous beneficiaries of the de minimis exception said.
While some U.S. prices for Shein’s ultra-cheap products, according to various calculations, have soared by the triple digits, a Washington Post analysis of nearly 300 women’s fashion items sold by the juggernaut found that that prices increased by an average of 43 percent between November and May, adding $2 to a typically $5 dress, for instance. Temu, in May, said it would be mitigating some of the price inflation by transitioning to a “local fulfillment model” that includes ramping up its recruitment of U.S. sellers.
Transactional data shows that consumers might be moving on. Spending at Shein and Temu saw a year-over-year tumble of 10 percent and 20 percent, respectively, for the week ending May 11, according to data analytics firm Consumer Edge. Shein rallied slightly in mid-June, which Consumer Edge attributed to increased patronage—by as much as 50 percent—by older shoppers aged 65 and above. Younger consumers, it said, did not contribute to the rebound, while Temu’s “troubles persist.”
Target
Though CEO Brian Cornell said in May that Target would raise prices only as a “very last resort,” the “difficulty level has been incredibly high given the rates we’re facing and the uncertainty about how these rates in different categories might evolve.”
Cornell said that the tariffs were only one in a string of “massive potential costs” that Target is grappling with. Consumer uncertainty and a massive backlash to the rollback of the diversity, equity and inclusion policies it developed in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder are others.
“Half of what we sell comes from the U.S.,” chief commercial officer Rick Gomez told investors, adding that Target is expanding production both in the United States and in countries outside of China to reduce its exposure to excessive tariffs.
Uniqlo
Fast Retailing, the Japanese conglomerate that owns Uniqlo, said last week that it plans to raise prices to soften the blow that higher tariffs will enact on its U.S. operation. Most of Uniqlo’s products are manufactured in South and Southeast Asia.
“It is unavoidable that we will be significantly affected from autumn and winter,” CFO Takeshi Okazaki said in Fast Retailing’s quarterly earnings conference call. “It will be difficult to absorb all costs. Our approach will be to raise prices where possible and not where it isn’t possible, while ultimately focusing on creating a sustainable business that securely generates profits.”
Fast Retailing said its operating profit in the three months to May 31 rose 1.4 percent to 146.7 billion yen ($1 billion), below a forecast of 153.8 billion yen. For the current fiscal year to the end of August, however, it expects limited tariff impact because of early shipments of what it says is a “substantial” amount of products to the U.S. market.
Walmart
Walmart was one of the first retailers to warn consumers in May that prices were going to go up because of tariffs, prompting President Donald Trump to warn the big box in a Truth Social post to “EAT THE TARIFFS” and “not charge valued customers ANYTHING.”
“We will do our best to keep our prices as low as possible, but given the magnitude of the tariffs, even at the reduced levels announced this week, we aren’t able to absorb all the pressure given the reality of narrow retail margins,” CEO Doug McMillon said on a call with analysts the same month.
Walmart’s CFO and executive vice president John David Rainey concurred, telling CNBC on May 15 that the level of tariffs that have been proposed has been “pretty challenging for all retailers, for suppliers, and certainly our concern is that consumers are going to feel some of that.” He said that products like electronics, toys and food will be affected most.
