Shanghai’s Vicky Su switched from headhunting to e-commerce because she wanted a high-paying job, but President Donald Trump’s tariffs have thrown her whole business model in doubt.

Since last year, the 31-year-old has been selling a mix of products on Amazon including toys, boxer briefs and Japanese futon covers.

She has kept overheads low by having her parents help and shipping products duty-free to the U.S. under the de minimis exemption. But that policy was canceled, reinstated and cancelled again over the last three months.

“I feel like I’ve been on a rollercoaster because there have been a series of ups and downs,” Su said.

Throughout President Donald Trump’s first term and the start of his second, e-commerce sellers like Su were insulated from his tariffs on Chinese exports because of the de minimis exemption.

This policy allowed items valued at $800 or less to be imported tax-free. Over 90% of cargo entered the U.S. this way, according to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection. It helped drive the growth of bargain e-commerce platforms such as Shein and Temu. Trump ended the duty-free loophole for Chinese goods on May 2.

The first time he canceled the de minimis exemption was in early February, and he hiked tariffs on all Chinese exports to 10%. Suddenly millions of packages flowing into the U.S. that previously went unchecked, now required customs inspection.

Perhaps overwhelmed with the workload, the U.S. Postal Service suspended parcels from China and Hong Kong the following day.

“I hope these U.S. decisions are called off,” Su said in a WeChat message to Marketplace in February. “Otherwise, many Chinese companies will go bankrupt.”

Another e-commerce seller, lingerie manufacturer Lei Congrui, sounded less worried when Marketplace checked in to see how worried he was about the de minimis cancellation.

His factory in eastern Jiangsu province manufactures sheer dresses and other costumes that Lei refers to as erotic clothing. He sold direct to customers through de minimis, and as a wholesaler.

“We have our own warehouse in the U.S., so I can continue selling in the American market, no problem,” Lei said.

Marketplace has been following Lei’s business since 2018, just before President Trump imposed tariffs in his first term. Not only did his business survive the extra levies, but Lei said the percentage of his sales to the U.S. went up from 50% in 2018 to 70% at the start of this year.

“In the end, it’s the American consumer that will pay the extra costs,” Lei said.

A day after Marketplace spoke to both sellers in February, the USPS reversed course and started accepting parcels from China again. Trump also reinstated the de minimis exemption temporarily.

After 96 hours of chaos, it was business as usual when Marketplace met up with Su. She seemed relieved but knew her products would eventually face U.S. tariffs — which at that point was just an extra 10%.

“Actually, with the additional tariffs, Chinese goods are still cheaper than American products,” she said, over a dim sum lunch.

Even with the trade chaos, Su said the American market was still attractive.

“We can’t avoid a trade conflict between China and the U.S. And if you look at other industries in China last year, including the layoffs in high tech, every sector is in a slump. Only exports are doing relatively better,” she said.

In February, Su was busy and had about 200 orders a day from the U.S. That changed in May, when Trump officially cancelled the de minimis exemption for China and imposed sky-high tariffs of 145% on most Chinese exports.

Confusingly, the U.S. set a separate and slightly lower tariff of 120% on small parcels coming from China or a flat fee of $100 per package.

When Marketplace checked in with Su in May, she said she had no choice but to raise prices and it has hurt business.

“Our orders have dropped by 60% to 70%,” she said.

As for Lei, his wholesale business is fine for now because he’s stocked up on pre-tariff products in his U.S. warehouse. However, Trump’s punitive levies killed a lot of orders on his direct-to-consumer sales.

“Under the current tariff policy, we’ve almost stopped all our business in the U.S.,” he said in a WeChat message.

Turns out, instead of paying tariffs, a lot of American consumers walked away. Lei said he is looking to expand in Asia and Europe.

On May 12, the U.S. and China had a truce of sorts. The two countries announced in Geneva a 90-day reduction in tariffs as they hammer out a trade deal.

The U.S. tariff on overall Chinese exports was cut from an extra 145% to 30%, plus any pre-existing duties. While an additional duty on small parcels was cut from 120% to 54%. 

Meanwhile, China dropped tariffs on all American exports from 125% to 10%. This is on top of the 10% to 15% retaliatory duties on certain American exports such as coal and agricultural products, and non-tariff measures such as export restrictions on minerals essential for high-tech products.

Trying to keep up with Trump’s tariffs has been a head spinning process for e-commerce vendors.

Su is still figuring out the cheapest way to export to the U.S., which changes by the day. She is also worried about her business in the medium-term.

“It’s not clear after the 90-day truce whether the tariffs will increase or not,” she said. “Everything is still uncertain.”

Additional research by Charles Zhang