Guangzhou, the bustling capital of Guangdong province and the epicentre of global fast fashion, is grappling with uncertainty as US tariffs disrupt orders and squeeze profits. In urban villages like Panyu, thousands of workers gather daily at informal labour markets, hoping for day work sewing garments destined for Chinese e-commerce platforms or export to Western shoppers. But demand has slumped.
Ms Qiu, a seamstress in Panyu, lamented the downturn: “The whole industry is struggling, and now there is a high tariff on Chinese goods because of the trade war. Many foreign clients have decreased their orders from China.” She spoke at a labour market where workers compete for tasks such as sewing buttons or ironing collars, earning between one and ten yuan per item after shifts lasting 10 to 12 hours.
Overseas orders, particularly from the US, have long sustained Guangzhou's garment sector. Last year, China supplied about a quarter of the $100bn worth of textiles and apparel imported by the US, with Guangdong alone exporting over $7bn. However, President Donald Trump’s trade war, which imposed tariffs of up to 145% on Chinese goods, has cast a shadow over the industry. A temporary 90-day pause in May offered some respite, but the 12 August deadline for a deal looms large.
Yang Ruiping, who has run a small clothes factory in Panyu for two decades, exports about 30% of his output, mainly to Shein and Amazon—down from over 50% before the pandemic. He said, “In the recent US-China trade war, if the tariffs go up, we need to lower the production costs to combat it. It leaves little room for profit.” With wages already rock-bottom, Yang is losing money on every top he sells but continues operating to keep his factory open.
Shein, the China-founded fast fashion giant now headquartered in Singapore, has transformed Guangzhou’s garment industry by placing small batch orders directly with independent manufacturers. The company accounts for roughly 50% of US fast fashion sales, according to Bloomberg Second Measure. Yet even Shein’s model faces headwinds from tariff uncertainty, leaving workers and factory owners in Guangzhou wondering whether they can keep selling clothes to Americans.
