By Eric Steffen
August 29, 2025

What the End of the De Minimis Requirement Means for Small Businesses and Consumers

On August 29, 2025, the de minimis tariff exemption -- which allowed goods under $800 to enter the U.S. tax-free -- will be rolled back. The stated goal is to encourage American businesses and consumers to buy more domestic goods.

As a business owner who deeply wants Americans to support domestic production, here’s my take:

Great goal. Terrible execution.

Let’s unpack what this means—for my business, for your purchases, and for the broader conversation around supporting American-made products. And let’s mark this moment as the first-ever National Tariff Day.

What It Means for My Business

Most of my denim comes from Japan—the global hub for premium denim. With the removal of the de minimis requirement, even a single roll of fabric is now subject to tariffs. On top of that, the Trump administration has placed a 15% tax on all Japanese imports. Add to this the fact that the U.S. dollar has lost about 6% of its value against the Japanese yen since January 1, 2025, and the cost of my raw materials has increased 21% this year alone.

So, is a 21% price hike enough to push me toward American denim?

Here’s the truth: when I quit my job in 2014 to start FITTED Underground, my goal was to source only American denim. I began with high-quality fabric from Cone Mills’ White Oak plant in North Carolina. But in 2017, that mill closed, leaving me without a reliable U.S. supplier.

Yes, Vidalia Mills in Louisiana opened a few years later, but they closed earlier this year. While there are a few micro-producers, their capacity is limited, their offerings are narrow, and their prices are extremely high.

In short, when it comes to sourcing U.S.-made denim, I’m—pardon the vernacular—shit outta luck.

That’s the maddening part of this policy: it encourages me to buy American goods that don’t actually exist. The result? I’ll continue sourcing from Japan, while being forced to absorb—or pass along—the higher costs.

The reality is simple: prices will rise. As larger brands adjust to this new economic reality, their prices will climb, and mine will have to follow. Which means the tariffs placed on me will ultimately become a tax on you.

[Read: Hhow I'm building FITTED, one step at a time.]

What It Means for Consumers

If you’re reading this, chances are you already value the benefits of buying fewer, better clothes. You might align with the slow fashion movement: prioritizing people over profit, quality over consumption, and time over money.

But the truth is, most Americans don’t share this ethos. Disposable fashion dominates. Few countries have a widespread culture of buying better and buying less—but Japan is one exception. Based on conversations with Japanese friends and Americans who’ve visited, there’s a cultural commitment there to quality over consumption. People are willing to pay more for fewer, better things.

This cultural difference highlights something crucial: tariffs alone won’t change American buying behavior. For real change, consumers need to understand and believe in the value of higher-quality, longer-lasting goods—and be willing to pay more for them.

Take my own family as an example. Some of them love shopping at Costco. My mom recently bought a very nice vest there for $13. Let’s say you slapped a 100% tariff on Chinese goods. That vest now costs $26. A 200% tariff? $39.

Even then, it’s still far cheaper than a U.S.-made vest. When the only competition is on price, American manufacturing loses every time.

That doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for low-cost goods. But it does mean that American-made products will only thrive if consumers are educated on—and committed to—the value of slow fashion.

A Better Way

So, if tariffs alone aren’t the answer, what is?

The first step is bringing domestic production back—and that requires serious investment in our industries.

Imagine if denim were treated as a critical American industry. What if we had protected Cone Mills’ White Oak plant from closure? What if consumers were educated about this historic craft and preferred American-made goods? What if small brands like mine could champion domestic production while encouraging innovation in American textiles?

Of course, this would take time and systemic change. But just as Japan has sustained a thriving cottage industry of skilled manufacturers, I believe the U.S. could do the same.

The core of this shift would be:

• Investment in domestic industries

• Education for consumers about the value of quality and craft

• Targeted tariffs on companies that outsource all of their production abroad

Tariffs can be one tool, but they can’t be the only one. Without education and investment, policies like the rollback of the de minimis exemption won’t revive American manufacturing—they’ll just raise prices for everyone.

So here’s to National Tariff Day, August 29, 2025—a chance not just to talk about taxes, but to spark a bigger conversation about how we can build a future where American craftsmanship thrives again.