Rabat – people from all areas of life are familiar with luxury items – from Chanel, Gucci, Prada, Balenciaga, Dior, to Louis Vuitton. These brand names are sought and duplicated in mass quantities. In local markets around the world you can find a wide range of models that reflect the attempt by the everyday person, to treat yourself to a luxury that is usually reserved for the pretty, happy faces that you see on TV.
However, do we really know how these opulent objects are made, and if we did that, would we still buy them? A new online trend is the root of some of these questions. Chinese manufacturers and content makers have recorded Tiktok to uncover the interior of the luxury industry, and show that many high-end branded items in China are produced inexpensively, only to be sold in the USA and in other markets at astronomically high prices.
This revelation extends over large luxury names such as Gucci, Fendi, PradaChanel, Hermès AND Birkins – everyone has a significant percentage of their products in China.
While criticisms of luxury brands are “rip -off” that use consumer uncertainties and that the desire for social validation are not new, the creators of Chinese content are now in the mainstream.
As a result, consumers are prompted re -evaluate The true value that you place on luxury goods and what this value really is based on. Many begin to see that high-end brands often serve as a mere “high-mark-market cledical dealer” and rather real producers of superior quality —call for a shifting To cut out the middleman and go straight to the source: China.
While the fears of a trade war are grasping people in the United States and all over the world, recently Canadian investor and shark tank star Kevin O’Leary expressed Support for Trump’s tariffs, which contradicts that the USA should “train Beijing like a puppy”.
“It is almost … the analogy is like a puppy when you train it. You put your nose into the POO POO and roll up a newspaper and you hit it on the back,” said O’Leary.
However, recent developments indicate that the training could be in the opposite direction. “You should have left her alone” noted A content manufacturer in response to the US attempts to disturb China’s manufacturing dominance.
Some observers argue that luxury items serve as More than just status symbols that keep them as a form of “soft power” for the West. The dominance of western culture through films, music and television creates an invisible global perception and positions American and European products as a “gold standard” of quality and desirability.
“Chinas shows that 80% of everything you buy in China buys over 60% of what you buy from Prada are done in China. The only difference is that you send it to Europe and support it on a” made in France “or” Made in Italy “label.
“It is like withdrawing the curtain in the magician of OZ and finding that there is no real magic behind the person who heads the show,” he added.
Luxury fashion is often the first visual marker for status, beauty and an effortless life, with this illusion of modernity and refinement functions in order to separate the “civilized” from the “uncivilized” and the arms from the rich. So it is ironic that this illusion is produced in China.
In addition to China’s massive and highly productive production capacities as well as its business -friendly regulation for foreign investors, the country has remained an attractive goal for global companies due to its considerable wages compared to the USA and Europe.
While the USA has accused China of the “stealing” from the United States and the exploitation of trade agreements have borne the main load of this system and received a fraction of what an American counterpart would earn – an amount that is increasingly inadequate with increasing prices and even more tinier profits from businessmen who are the real advantages of this global use cycle.
According to the Apollo Academy, the production wages in China were around 20% of people in the United States in 2024, while they were almost 3% in India.
This trend is still unfolding, but since these truths become generally known, people begin to ask whether luxury goods maintain their perceived value. If the illusion fades, a new world can take shape – one in which western consumism lose its grip.
“A new kind of nationalism”
Before Trump’s comprehensive tariffs were announced, CNBC reported In March that the global luxury goods market – 380 billion US dollars – decreased by 2% in 2024, which was due to changes in China.
In recent years, the industry has lost around 50 million Chinese consumers because buyers in the country have increasingly turned away from mainstream luxury brands.
The report partially attributes this decline to the consequences of COVID-19, whereby China’s young people with an economic downturn and a youth unemployment rate that rose to 20%. It is even more important that the report indicates a psychological shift between young, wealthy consumers.
“Instead of buying things and status, young people wanted experiences and memories. So the entire market shifted,” he said.
Another key factor in the report is the creation of what it describes as a “new kind of nationalism” in China. This increasing feeling has caused many Chinese consumers to prefer local luxury brands to European-especially in view of the fact that a similar high-end quality can be found at a fraction of the price if they are produced in Germany.
“Ten years ago, China made up half of all luxury sales in the world. This number is expected to grow. Instead, China now only represents 12% of the global turnover of luxury goods,” concluded the report.
Admission to China
On Friday, April 11th, US customs and border protection output A message in which it is announced that the electronics imported into the USA are exempt from the global standard tariff of 10% and the significantly higher tariffs for Chinese goods.
This exemption applies to products that enter the USA or were already released from bound warehouses on April 5, including those that are imposed on the steep 125% to Chinese imports.
This development follows by President Trump’s recent introduction of a comprehensive 145% tariff of Chinese goods, citing national security concerns and China alleged participation in the fentanyling trade. However, the exemption of the electronics does not cover a specific part of the 20% tariff, which Trump claims, connected directly to China’s role in the fentanyl crisis.
The announcement takes place under the growing pressure of US technology companies, many of which warned that highly increased import costs could lead to consumer prices rise, especially since a large proportion of electronics in the USA are produced in China.
“This is the dream scenario for tech investors,” said Dan Ives, Global Head of Technology Research at Wedbush Securities, in a contribution to X. Ives added that Tech giants such as Apple, Nvidia and Microsoft can breathe in a great relief.
According to reports, up to 80% of the iPhones intended for US sales are produced in China, with the remaining 20%
The White House has classified the exceptions as a strategic step to give companies time to shift production to the USA. “President Trump has made it clear that America cannot rely on China to produce critical technologies such as semiconductors, chips, smartphones and laptops,” said Karoline Leavitt, press spokeswoman for the White House.
“In the direction of the President, these companies are as soon as possible to lure their production in the USA.”
President Trump promised further clarification in the coming weeks. “We will be very specific,” he said reporters on board the Air Force One. “But we’ll take up a lot of money. As a country, we’ll pay a lot of money,” he promised.
