Chinese manufacturers flood Tiktok and other social media applications with direct calls to American shoppers, and urged people to buy luxury materials directly from their factories. Amid the threats of customs tariffs high on Chinese exports, the Americans appear to be in everything.
The stadium in videos is that people can buy leggings and handbags just like those in brands like LululeMon, Hermes and Birkenstock, but for a small part of the price. They often claim that the products are made in the same factories that produce elements for these brands.
American influencers have adopted videos, promoting factories and driving downloads for Chinese shopping applications such as DHGATE and Taobao as a way to shoppers to save money if the price of Skyrockkets is under President Trump’s tariff for Chinese imports. DHGATE was among the 10 apps downloaded in Apple and Google apps last week.
Videos in Tiktok and Instagram decline, raising millions of views and thousands of likes. It seems that many jobs have sparked the Americans’ sympathy for China in the comments, such as “Trump’s intimidation of the wrong country” and “China won this war.”
Videos provide a rare outlet for Chinese factory owners and workers to speak directly to American consumers through technically banned social media applications in China. Its popularity in America is increasingly highlighting vocal support for China on social media, similar to screaming on the potential ban of the federal government of Tikhak.
“She is active politically people in a similar way to her opinion when we will cancel Tijook, but this time in the context of definitions and a comprehensive relationship with the two countries,” said Matt Perle, the director who focuses on technological issues at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “It explains their ability to communicate with American consumers to lead a message about our dependence on Chinese goods.”
Mr. Pearl suggested that the Chinese government may allow videos to dispersion, because it tends to inhibit its citizens from publishing videos that violate commercial products from Western countries.
The Chinese embassy in Washington and the Chinese consulate in New York did not respond requests for comment.
The size of Tiktok videos that urge users to obtain direct products from Chinese factories increased by approximately 250 percent during the week from April 13, according to Margot Hardy, an analyst at Graphika, a social network analysis company. On Tiktok, Hashtag #Cindesefactory had 29,500 jobs on April 23; On Instagram, she had 27,300 jobs.
Retail experts – sellers in China – says that it is unlikely to be the most viral videos, which claim to be made of brands such as LululeMon and Hermes, collected authentic products from these stickers. “These factories often sign strict agreements that are not disclosed and are unlikely to destroy their long -term relationships with major brands in exchange for formulating some goods through direct sales,” said Suusarita Kudali, a retail analyst in Forster.
She said that the Chinese government allows videos to reproduce.
Ms. Kudali said: “The interests of LululeMon or Chanel are currently in China are probably 100 in the list of things that the Chinese Minister of Trade and officials feel there.” Manufacturers may also rush to close sales before the new tariffs on May 2 Add huge fees to parcel shipments From China, she said.
However, the questions about the health of the goods do not stop demand.
Elizabeth HenziShe said 23 years old in Murfille, North Carolina, that she had found manufacturing costs and retail prices shown in videos that open the eye. She has made a spreadsheet of factories that she claims to sell anesthetic shoes and luxury bags and more, and link them in her TIKTOK profile. This post attracted more than a million views.
Mrs. Henzie is now working as a DHGATE partner, where she will receive free products from the company to review videos and a committee if people buy through its links. She said she believed that people in China were eventually trying to help the Americans.
“Seeing how other countries gathered to try to help American consumers have strengthened my spirits,” said Ms. Henzi. “Although it is a negative thing that happens in America, I think it also drives us to gather.”
TIKTOK, owned by the Chinese company by TEDANCE, has dropped some videos, indicating a policy prohibiting the promotion of fake goods. But many of them continued to publish. Even old videos about Chinese manufacturing are spreading in personal news, amid great interest in definitions. Tiktok refused to comment more, and refused by Meta, the comment on videos.
China’s sellers say they started publishing videos when sales fell. Yu Chile, co -owner of the 36 -year -old manufacturing company in Shandong Province, East China, who makes fitness equipment, said he started publishing to Tijook in mid -March to find more customers after the customs tariff prompted a wave of canceled requests.
Luis LV, general manager of the jewelry factory in Hongi, Yiu, in Zhejiang Province, said his company began to publish Tijook at the end of 2024, driven by slowing domestic sales.
But he watched viewers in his Tiktok videos has risen since the Trump administration announced the definitions. He said in an interview: “The philosophy of Chinese businessmen is that we will go to any workplace.”
in One of the most popular Tiktok videosA man holds what he says is the Hermes Birkin bag while claiming to share production costs from the factory. (The indigenous video and account were removed, but video versions are still widely spinning by republishing from other users.) He says the wallet costs less than $ 1,400 to manufacture, but the French luxury retailer sells it for only $ 38,000 for the poster. The man claimed that he used the same skin and the same devices to repeat the handbags without the logo, and to serve them for $ 1,000.
A Hermes spokesman said her bags “were made 100 percent in France” and refused more. A Birkenstock spokeswoman said videos showed “Knockoffs” and that her shoes were designed and produced in the European Union. The company said it had contacted Tiktok and that preliminary videos were deleted on April 15.
LululeMon, who was also a target of viral Tiktok videos from manufacturers who claim to sell their time for only $ 5, said it is in contact with Tiktok to remove wrong claims. LululeMon said in an e -mail statement that he did not succeed with manufacturers in videos and warned consumers not to be familiar with fake products and wrong information.
Vanessa Friedman and Isabelle Qian It contributed to the reports from New York.
