Lawmakers across Latin America are joining global efforts to rein in ultrafast fashion.
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Chinese online marketplaces like Shein and Temu [and their] flood of ultracheap clothing has upended Latin American retail.
In response, Argentina has joined the growing global backlash against ultrafast fashion and legislative efforts to contain it. The country’s textile industry is pushing for an “anti-Shein” bill that would impose import controls and apply a flat 30% customs duty levy on e-commerce parcels to shield local manufacturers from cheap Chinese imports — a push that has gained cross-party support. Textile trade groups in Brazil and Mexico are coordinating similar efforts as part of a wider regional response.
“We’re not afraid to compete — but it has to be on equal terms,” said [the owner of a textile family buiness Luciano] Galfione, who is also the president of the ProTejer trade association. “When I sell a T-shirt online from my factory, I pay every tax imaginable. Shein sells the same way and pays none.”
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Countries around the world are pushing back in an effort to protect their own textile industries. In October, the French Senate passed a bill that will sanction Asian fast fashion companies by scoring their environmental impact. Last year, Indonesia lowered the threshold below which goods are exempt from import duties from $100 to $3, while South Africa began taxing small parcels under $27. In August, the U.S. scrapped its $800 duty-free exemption, meaning even the smallest imports now face tariffs.
Governments across Latin America are also moving to shield domestic industries, which are highly labor-intensive and especially vulnerable to foreign competition. Mexico recently raised tariffs on small packages from China to 33.5%, while Chile is moving toward applying a 19% value-added tax on low-cost imports. Ecuador began implementing a $20 fee on small packages in June.
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In Argentina, where textile output has plunged more than 20% in the past year as cheap imports surged, industry leaders are pushing for Shein and Temu imports to undergo inspections verifying that fabrics are non-toxic and environmentally safe. Under the proposed bill, the garments would be subject to standard import duties and taxes. The proposal mirrors France’s new ultrafast fashion law, which adds a progressive “eco tax” and requires labels to disclose key environmental information. Shein, for its part, denies qualifying as fast fashion.
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Until recently, Shein wasn’t even an option in Argentina. The country’s textile and apparel industry — alongside footwear and automobiles — was for decades shielded by tariffs of up to 35% and complex import rules, a policy intended to protect nearly 300,000 local jobs. But these measures also kept prices among the highest in the world, and more than 35% above the Latin American average.
That changed in 2024, when President Javier Milei rolled back restrictions, cut tariffs to 20%, scrapped licenses, and raised the duty-free limit for door-to-door imports to $400 per package, from $50. The move unleashed a flood of online deliveries — dazzling consumers who had long been resigned to exorbitant prices, but enraging local textile makers who say the playing field is now anything but level.
“Opening the economy cannot mean making it precarious,” a press release from Argentina’s Apparel Chamber said.
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There are also other concerns. Studies show that many garments from ultrafast fashion brands like Shein are worn only a handful of times before being discarded. Investigations have revealed grueling labor conditions in supplier factories and risks of significant environmental damage tied to ultracheap production.
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