Record imports, fall sales and thousands of jobs at risk: Shein’s landing hits the Argentine textile industry.
The Argentine textile industry It is going through a critical moment that is reflected in increasingly alarming numbers. The advance of digital platforms such as Shein It altered the rules of the clothing consumption game, and the local sector accuses the impact directly. What was previously a latent problem, today became a true crisis that combines Sales fall, Import and dismissal avalanche massive
In parallel, the normative changes that reduced the Purchases abroad They further facilitated the landing of Asian products. Consumers, beaten by the loss of purchasing power, quickly migrated to the Low cost imported clothes. The phenomenon is not new, but its current magnitude put hundreds of local factories in check that fail to compete in prices or in volume.
Shein
Fall of sales and layoffs: the Shein effect
The numbers crudely show the impact of this trend. According to the Argentine Chamber of Electronic Commerce, 33% of digital international purchases come from Chinese platformswith Shein concentrating 10% of the total. Only in July 2025, imports via Couriers added 98 million dollars, and in the first seven months of the year they reached 408 million: almost twice as registered in all 2024.
The Protected Foundation reported while, between January and July, textile imports grew a 97% in volume Regarding last year. The most affected item was the clothing, with a jump from the 123%followed by home products, who shot a 195%. In practice, that means that garments such as jeans, shirts or dresses reach the country at prices that often do not cover the basic costs of local production.
Temu Shein
Settings in the sector to counteract the Shein effect
Sector surveys reveal that 72% of companies applied labor adjustment measures Between 2023 and mid -2025. Extra hours were reduced, closed productive shifts and the layoffs accelerated. Six out of ten companies anchored their workforce, a trend that does not distinguish between large and girls.
Internal consumption also does not help. During the second quarter of this year, Half of textile firms reported an average decrease of 7% in sales compared to 2024and the fall reaches 28% if compared to 2023. Production accompanies that Descending curve: A 12% year -on -year setback and 30% in just two years.
The phenomenon Sheinenhanced by the elimination of tariffs for shipments of up to 400 dollars and the increase in the limit per order to $ 3,000, exposed the fragility of a sector that He does not find defense tools against dumping.
Source: Ambito
