Say goodbye to the $5 T-shirt

President Donald Trump’s trade war is coming for your wardrobe, and the hardest-hit items will be the simple stuff.

President Donald Trump’s trade war is coming for your wardrobe, and the hardest-hit items will be the simple stuff. The apparel sector is disproportionately impacted by Trump’s tariffs, which include a 10% minimum tax on all countries and a 145% tax on Chinese imports. Ninety-eight percent of clothing in Americans’ closets is imported to the United States, and China is the largest clothing importer to the United States, accounting for 22% of the apparel market. While Trump’s tariffs will raise the cost of most clothing, the sharpest price increases will be the basics, like the $5 T-shirts, the $10 six-pack of socks and the $25 sneakers that many Americans wear, say trade policy researchers and economists. “Basic clothing necessities such as cotton T-shirts, underwear and socks will go up in price higher and quicker because consumers will still need to buy them even as the price increases,” said Sheng Lu, professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware. In other words, since customers buy these items year-round, retailers will need to restock them more quickly than seasonal gear and the occasional dress or suits customers buy that companies can stash away for longer, he said. That means the companies importing clothing are doing so more frequently, increasing the likelihood that their shipments will be tariffed. The United States is not only heavily reliant on China, but also on low-cost clothing manufacturing in countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh. Since there are no alternative ways to produce clothing in the United States at competitive costs or on a large scale, shoppers can expect to pay 65% more for clothing and 87% more for shoes within the next year, according to an analysis by the Yale Budget Lab, a non-partisan policy research center. Clothing prices will stay 25% higher and shoe prices 29% higher in the long run.