Foreign brands grapple with whether to pause shipments to the US amid tariffs and the end of de minimis
After the global trade landscape has shifted dramatically over the course of just a few months, foreign brands are grappling with whether it’s worth continuing to operate in the U.S. altogether.
In recent weeks, a number of brands based in the U.K., Australia and elsewhere have informed their U.S. customers they’re holding off on taking orders while they figure out how to handle cross-border tariffs. It’s not just tariffs that complicate their operations, but also the end of the de minimis exemption. Now, a brand that manufactures its products in Asia, is headquartered in the U.K. and relied on de minimis to service U.S. customers, for example, faces a daunting puzzle of figuring out how to service U.S. customers while keeping its operations profitable. Foreign brands that spoke to Modern Retail say they are tackling tariffs by diversifying their supply chain and investing in localized fulfillment.
British beauty retailer Space NK, which operates some shops-within-shops at Bloomingdale’s, is one such company that has temporarily paused shipping to the U.S. “We’re making some changes to how we serve our U.S. customers,” the company told customers via email. “As we adapt to the latest U.S. tariff regulations, we’ve decided to pause e-commerce orders and shipping to the U.S. to avoid incorrect or additional costs being applied to our customers’ orders.”
In April, Waterstones, considered Britain’s biggest bookseller, also made the decision to stop taking orders from American shoppers. “We regret that we are currently unable to accept or ship orders to the U.S., while we establish options to be compliant with the new tariffs,” Waterstone told customers via email.
Online fashion retailer Pixie Rebels told customers it’s pausing shipping to the U.S., starting April 25. The Amsterdam-based company, which sells items by independent designers, put everything on sale as a “final thank you” to American customers. “We will be back the second these tariffs go away. Promise. So keep your eye out, and don’t unfollow us just yet,” Pixie Rebels’ statement said. In its latest update on May 8, the company confirmed U.S. delivery is still closed, but added, “It can’t be forever, so stick with us.”
Not all companies are taking the step of pausing orders to the U.S. Kristy Glenne, managing director of the London-based travel brand Antler, told Modern Retail that it is still shipping orders in the U.S. and isn’t planning any pauses. “[The U.S.] has been a strategic agenda for our global growth and footprint,” Glenne said. “We’ve put a lot of money and energy into relationships there. We don’t feel like it’s appropriate just to stop.”
Glenne told Modern Retail that Britain is its biggest region followed by Australia.
“The U.S is still very small for us, about 6% of our business,” Glenne said — but Antler hopes to get it to at least 10%. Over the past year, Antler has also expanded its physical footprint in the U.S. through Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom and opening its own New York City store. Other recent investments include localizing fulfillment to the U.S. with an Atlanta warehouse. Previously, Antler shipped U.S. orders from Mexico, which is no longer possible due to the de minimis suspension.
This year, Antler reached annual sales of £45 million. “We’ve had three years of consecutive double-digit growth and have been profitable,” Glenne said. The goal is to continue growing profitably even under the pressure of tariff costs, she added.
“Now it’s all about scaling and optimization,” Glenne said. While retail is a piece of that puzzle, she said, “We’ll probably pause on investing in physical retail even further until we know more about what’s happening.” In the meantime, Antler is just trying to work with its suppliers and absorb costs as much as possible without increasing prices.
Sustainable footwear brand Vivobarefoot is another British brand that launched in the U.S. recently and is still selling products in the U.S. through its website, despite the chaos tariffs have caused.
Founded in 2012, Vivobarefoot has expanded stateside in 2023 to tap into a new customer base — an endeavor the company still believes is important even amid this trade war.
Galahad Clark, co-founder of Vivobarefoot, said the latest U.S. tariffs have “seriously impacted” the company. “Currently, 35% of our production is made in Vietnam and sold in the U.S.,” Clark explained. If the proposed 56% tariffs on Vietnam — which were announced on April 2 and paused for 90 days — went into effect, Clark estimated that it would impact his business by over $6 million. Clark said Vivobarefoot would need to both reduce costs and increase prices — right now, however, Vivobarefoot has no plans to raise prices.
One approach Vivobarefoot is taking to mitigate costs is localization and producing products closer to where they are bought. “We’ve always invested in local, more automated, made-to-order production technologies,” Clark said.
Vivobarefoot is bringing some production to the states by working with local cobblers, using local sustainable materials and tapping technology such as 3D printing.
“We are accelerating our plans for local manufacturing with initiatives like the recently-launched VivoBiome,” he said, referring to one of the company’s 3D printed products. This is being facilitated through partnerships with the Future Footwear Foundation, which supports cobbling by indigenous groups such as Navajo Nation. Other international partners include the San Bushmen in Southern Africa, Sami in Finland and Indian heritage cobblers, among others.
While brands like Vivobarefoot and Antler don’t want to give up on their U.S. businesses entirely, there are only so many levers they can pull. “We’re approaching this by trying to minimize the impact of tariffs as much as possible,” Glenne said. “But I don’t think there are many loopholes to avoid it completely.”