The unexpected winners of Trump’s trade war

But Shin and Timo did not stop marketing completely. Instead, both companies chose to convert their advertising budgets abroad to areas where geopolitical risks were seen as less and more abundant growth opportunities. Shen spent 22 percent of her total spending in the American market during the second quarter, compared to 39 percent in the first three months of 2025, according to the sensor tower. Meanwhile, the United States spent in Timo from 47 percent to 9 percent. As a result, Sinn and Timo’s sales in countries other than the United States, such as the United Kingdom, increased, Standard records.

But dipping did not last long. After they reached the bottom of the rocks in June, the two companies began to increase the spending of its ads in the United States in July. In August, Shen spent more marketing in the United States than it was in August 2024.

The numbers reflect the fact that Chinese platforms have discovered a new book: Continue shipping products Despite the definitions, pass some costs to consumers, and maintain competition by focusing on building independent supply chains and warehouse networks that can help maintain charging costs.

Application store plans indicate that the new strategy is working. After a short slice of its popularity earlier this year, Shein and TEMU now occupied an arrangement again among the 5 best applications in the shopping category in the Apple App Store in the United States and Google Play Store as of Wednesday.

TEMU and Shein did not immediately respond to the Wire suspension requests.

Behind the curve

The large Chinese platforms were preparing for the end of the minimum for more than a year and managed to re -calibrate the logistical services strategies quickly when the definitions were at the end Go into effect. The same cannot be said about independent stores.

Deniz, the Ukrainian ETSY store owner, says he expects to raise the price of his products to stay on his feet. “If the new definitions remain, the prices will inevitably increase at least 10 percent in the future,” he says.

He recently started working with a local Ukrainian shipping company called Novapost, which intervened to help sellers move in customs procedures and pledged to bear part of the fees for local companies. The situation in Ukraine is much less chaos than it was in other parts of the world, as many postal companies have stopped sending packages to the United States due to the constant confusion about the details of Trump’s commercial policies.

I think we all benefit from the ability to shop from young sellers around the world. Over the past few years, I bought a 3D printed topographic map from Canada, artistic publications from Germany, and Dennis wooden works from Ukraine. I did not shop from foreign brands, but modern global e -commerce platforms gave me access to a wide range of products, which were often sold at lower prices than goods in nearby retail stores. In short in learning carpentry myself, the Denys’ Etsy Store in Ukraine is likely to be the best option to get a reasonable wooden work to my home in New York City.

But at the end of the minimum, many Americans may choose to reduce the purchase of crafts and other non -essential elements from the outside. If this happens, young sellers will be more difficult. “This mostly affects the purchase of motivation and then the things we do not need.” Tell my colleague Bon Ashworth. “It does not affect the price of milk, for example.”

I am still waiting for wooden slices, which Deniz says that habits must ultimately remove soon. I hope that companies like him are able to stay in this new ecosystem. Otherwise, I may have no choice but to eat carpentry, but who knows how much I should pay a tariff on my new wooden business?

This is an edition of Zi Yang and Louise Matsakis‘ Made in the Chinese newsletter. Read the previous newsletters here.