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Ever wanted to buy an Hermès Birkin bag? With a whopping price tag in the thousands of Dollars, chances are you probably can’t afford the luxe item. However, that might have changed — emphasis on might.

How, you may ask. Well, US President Donald Trump has, in total, imposed 145 per cent in tariffs on China. China retaliated and increased its tariffs on US imports to 125pc.

China, the world’s second-largest economy, is responsible for manufacturing a number of luxury goods. The iPhone? Designed in California but assembled in China. In addition to tech items, China plays a big role in manufacturing fashion goods because of lower labour costs and established supply chains. Not only does the fashion industry source raw materials, trims, zippers and more from China, but brands like Levi’s and Nike manufacture their products in Chinese factories.

As Trump continues to push his “beautiful” tariff agenda, tariff concerns have already slowed manufacturing activity across the globe, while also spurring sales of autos and other imported products as consumers rush to make purchases before prices rise.

In the wake of global economic turmoil, Chinese manufacturers have devised an entirely new ballgame — posting alleged production costs on social media and telling customers where they can buy goods for far cheaper than luxury brands are selling them for. Chinese manufacturers alleged that popular brands rely on their low cost and in turn, hike up prices for consumers.

TikTok and Instagram have been flooded with videos ostensibly from Chinese factories, urging American consumers to buy directly from them and forgo Trump’s sweeping tariffs. Many of these videos have gone viral.

The videos are mostly filmed at Chinese factories that claim to supply to top US brands such as Lululemon and Nike. The influencers aim to “expose” how the vast majority of consumer goods are made in China and many give their website addresses and contact details for viewers to order directly from them, Bloomberg reported.

In one such video, TikTok user LunaSourcingChina, who boasts almost a million followers, stands outside a factory she claims makes Lululemon yoga leggings for $5 to $6, instead of the $100 they sell for in the United States.

“The material and craftsmanship are basically the same because they all come from the same production line,” she said. The video amassed over 12 million views on TikTok alone.

Meanwhile, a spokesperson for Lululemon told The Independent that it manufactures approximately 3pc of its finished goods in mainland China, and provides a full list of its manufacturing partners on its website. The Independent also found at least one video that falsely claimed to be a Lululemon supplier.

Other videos show people allegedly standing outside factories for luxury brands, such as Louis Vuitton, and claiming that people can buy their items for a fraction of the price. According to Bloomberg, one video shows a man standing on a factory floor, claiming to have access to manufacturers that produce Louis Vuitton bags, which he says can be sold directly to customers for $50. For context, Louis Vuitton bags cost from hundreds to tens of thousands of US dollars.

Louis Vuitton has repeatedly denied claims that it manufactures products in China. According to the brand’s website, its goods are produced exclusively in Europe and the US.

A TikTok account with the username SenBags claimed it made bags using the exact same materials Hermès used to produce its iconic Birkin bags. The only differences? The Chinese bag doesn’t have the Hermès logo and retails for a small fraction of the original price. SenBags didn’t explicitly state that it manufactures for Hermes.

According to Newsweek, the TikTok user claimed that 80pc of luxury bags are made in China. “They take almost finished bags from China factories and just do the repackaging and logo installing. Something like that,” the social media user said.

Hermès, on the other hand, maintains that most of their items are manufactured mainly in France.

Amid this influx of videos, Americans catapulted two Chinese e-commerce apps, DHgate and Taobao, to the near top of the most-downloaded iPhone apps in the United States, according to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower.

However, many have cautioned buyers against purchasing goods from these alleged manufacturers. “They’re trying to conflate the fake manufacturers in China with the real manufacturers,” said Conrad Quilty-Harper, author of Dark Luxury, a newsletter about the luxury goods industry.

“They’re very clever with their social media, and they’re very effective at driving demand in the West,” he added.

A 2023 report from the office of the US Trade Representative stated that China led the world in counterfeit and pirated products, with Chinese chat app WeChat being identified as “one of the largest platforms for counterfeit goods.”

“Counterfeit and pirated goods from China, together with transshipped goods from China to Hong Kong, accounted for 75pc of the value of counterfeit and pirated goods seized by US Customs and Border Protection in 2021,” the report on “notorious markets” said.

According to the Washington Post, Sky Canaves, principal retail and e-commerce analyst at the research firm eMarketer, said, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.”

The publication detailed that no matter how American consumers purchased items, they could not avoid the new tariffs on Chinese-made products. “Anything from China, whether bought directly or through a company, is now subject to tariffs,” said Sucharita Kodali, a retail and e-commerce principal analyst with the research firm Forrester.

Although there is scepticism surrounding the numerous videos, it’s difficult to establish whether the creators’ content is genuine and they are trying to help Americans undercut Trump’s tariffs or if they’re simply looking to make a profit.

So, perhaps the American dream of owning a legitimate Birkin bag will remain just that — a dream. Unless you’re raking in millions, and then who cares about a tariff?