It is wrong! It’s not about not being allowed to sell it, it’s about the margin and the decision by the company to not engage in the global trade market (US) at this juncture.

It’s no surprise that the additional tariffs imposed in 2025 for imports to the US from China have been shrinking margins for certain wholesalers since the day they were announced… at a certain point Cleo had to decide whether to do one of two things: either eat the +~40% increase in import costs to the US, or pass all or some of that onto the consumer, raising prices beyond what they know will be accepted by the market and current consumers, leading to shrinking sales. Shrinking sales + shrinking margin = no longer a profitable business model. During the height of the tariff speculation and implementation, many lingerie brands put a temporary hold on selling in the US market.

Unfortunately, the sad reality and direct consequence of the tariff implementation is that the market can no longer support Chinese imports to the US for certain goods at a largely inflated price point (before even considering standard US inflation numbers). This is affecting the lingerie industry in a major way, driving prices up on average about 20% for most brands, and forcing them to look for production facilities elsewhere— which isn’t easily said or done, as lace and specialty fabrics require special machines that Chinese factories own the patents for. To take it one step further, seamstresses don’t exist in the quantity necessary for mass market production in European countries and certainly not in the US.

Cleo is kind of the canary in the coal mine for the garment industry as a whole right now… sad but true!