Shein’s IPO plans may get pushed to the second half of 2025 as Trump eliminates tariff-free imports of small goods from China.
Shein has been planning a London stock market listing in the first half of this year, which is likely to be delayed to the later half due to Trump’s tariff impositions on import of smallgoods from China. The company was valued at an impressive $66 bn in its 2023 funding round.
The fast fashion group delivers products all across the world at extremely affordable rates. According to few knowns in the matter, Shein had indicated to its investors of a UK listing as soon as Easter. But the IPO is now likely to be postponed into the second half of 2025, as per three people close to the matter.
The Singapore based brand filed confidential paperwork with the UK markets regulator in June 2024, but is yet to receive an approval. They had initially planned for a New York IPO listing, but steered towards London due to US-China conflicts. The listing, while never publicly confirmed by Shein, could provide a much-needed thrust to the UK markets.
Plans by Shein, whose major markets include both the US and the UK, to publicly list a proportion of its shares have been dogged by geopolitics over the past 18 months.
After Trump denounced the de minimis rule, which allowed exemption of tariffs for goods under $800, Chinese e-commerce businesses like Shein and Temu have taken a hit. The newly elected president also declared an additional 10% tax on import of Chinese goods. This has caused uncertainty over its impact and derailed Shien’s IPO timeline.
Due in great part to the de minimis restriction, Shein’s business has expanded quickly since the Covid-19 epidemic. According to a US congressional investigation, Shein and rival Temu, which is controlled by the Chinese e-commerce behemoth PDD and specialises in lower-priced goods, accounted for almost 30% of the shipments to America under such exclusions.
According to US Customs and Border Protection data, China accounts for over half of de minimis shipments entering the United States, with an average order value of roughly $50. Shipments of these commodities totalled $47.8 billion in the first three quarters of 2024.
According to one person familiar with Shein’s ambitions, the crackdown has forced the company to concentrate on its supply chain, but it hasn’t halted its IPO efforts or ceased pursuing UK approval.
However, if Shein were to list fewer than 10% of its shares, it would need a special waiver grant from the UK Financial Conduct Authority. The de minimis modifications, according to analysts at RBC Capital Markets, might cause prices to rise, threatening the business models of Temu and Shein.
