A comparison of Pink Tax in the U.S. Fast-Fashion Industry Before and After the 2025 Tariffs of the Trump Administration

Abstract:

This study examines how the tariffs proposed in the Trump Administration’s second term impacted the Pink Tax—the price disparity between gendered products—in the U.S. fast-fashion industry. With 98% of apparel imported, tariffs raised retail prices, disproportionately affecting women’s clothing. Using price data and a Difference-in-Differences model on prices from brands including H&M, Zara, and Shein, the research quantifies tariff effects on gendered pricing and assesses industry responses. It aims to determine whether tariffs worsened the Pink Tax, deepening economic disparities for female consumers. The findings will provide policy insights on trade and gender equity.

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Background:

The Pink Tax is the systematic price difference where products marketed towards women are more expensive than their male counterparts, despite being nearly identical. According to the European Union, this is indirect discrimination, leading to socio-economic disparities and market failures. This is contradictory, as the global gender wage gap is 16% (OECD, 2023), yet women consistently spend more on necessities.

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Fast fashion – inexpensive, rapidly-produced clothing – has led Americans to buy more clothing than ever. U.S. consumers now purchase over 50 new clothing items annually, nearly four times more than two decades ago. With 98% of clothing sold domestically imported, changes in trade policy can significantly impact prices and availability. Tariffs on imports can raise retail prices, as importers often pass costs to consumers. Because the. tariffs implemented during the Trump administration on goods from countries like China increased apparel costs, there is an increasing concern about whether such tariffs worsen the Pink Tax by further inflating prices for women’s products.

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Objective:

Quantify the impact of tariffs on price differences between men’s and women’s products, assess how the retail industry responded and provide policy insights regarding the impact of trade on gender equity. This research will determine, by analyzing price data and industry changes, whether the tariffs aggravate the Pink Tax and disproportionately affect female consumers.

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Literature Review:

Pricing disparities are intensified by U.S. trade policy. Research by Fajgelbaum et al. and Cavallo et al. found that tariffs from the 2018–2019 U.S.-China trade conflict were almost fully passed on to consumers (Fajgelbaum et al. 1; Cavallo et al. 21). Since over 95% of clothing sold in the U.S. is imported, shifts in import duties significantly impact retail prices—especially in fast fashion, where costs are highly responsive to supply chain changes (U.S. Census Bureau).

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Further compounding the issue, the U.S. International Trade Commission reported average tariffs of 14.9% on women’s apparel versus 12.0% on men’s (USITC 22). This 2.9-point difference forms what’s known as a “pink tariff”—a structural pricing bias that exacerbates the Pink Tax by embedding gendered cost disparities into import policy. Because tariffs raise baseline costs and women’s categories face higher rates, women disproportionately absorb the financial burden, even when products are nearly identical.

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International models offer useful contrasts. In Canada, pink tax effects persist—up to a 50% markup on women’s goods and over CAD 1,300 annually per consumer (ParseHub; CBC Marketplace). However, Canada’s tariff structure is less transparently gendered. EU tariff schedules are largely neutral (European Commission), and reforms like the 2022 VAT Directive have enabled member states to remove taxes on menstrual products, addressing indirect discrimination (Directive 2022/542).

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Despite growing awareness, little is known about the direct effect of U.S. tariffs on the Pink Tax. This study seeks to fill that gap by examining whether Trump-era trade policies worsened gendered price disparities and increased women’s economic burden.

 

Methodology:​ 

Based on the hypothesis that import tariffs disproportionately impact gendered pricing in the U.S. fast-fashion industry, this study examines how Trump-era tariffs influenced gendered pricing in the U.S. fast-fashion industry. The findings will provide an insight on the efficacy of the U.S. trade policies and gender discrimination in the U.S. This insight shall provide foundational data to be used in future proposals.

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Using secondary data analysis and statistical modeling, it will evaluate price disparities between men’s and women’s apparel, the extent of tariff pass-through, and industry responses to increased import duties. The research aims to determine whether these tariffs intensified the Pink Tax, disproportionately impacting female consumers.

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Price data from sources like the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and Statista will be analyzed before and after the tariffs, focusing on major retailers such as H&M, Zara, and Shein. A Difference-in-Differences (DiD) regression model will assess whether price hikes were more pronounced for women’s clothing. Additionally, tariff schedules from the International Trade Administration (ITA) and U.S. Census Bureau will be examined to quantify import duty disparities and estimate how much of the cost retailers absorbed versus passed on to consumers.

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The study will also explore retailer strategies, including shifts in manufacturing from China to countries like Vietnam and Bangladesh, and whether these adjustments disproportionately affected women’s fashion lines. Consumer behavior reports will be reviewed to assess whether price increases influenced demand for women’s apparel. To provide context, the research will compare U.S. trends with Canada and the EU, analyzing tariff structures and gendered pricing policies. A legislative review will examine reforms like the Pink Tax Repeal Act to determine whether similar pricing patterns exist globally.

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References :

California State Legislature. AB-1287 Gender Tax Repeal Act of 2022. 2022, https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1287.

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Cavallo, Alberto, et al. "Tariff Passthrough at the Border and at the Store: Evidence from US Trade Policy." American Economic Review: Insights, vol. 3, no. 1, 2021, pp. 19–34. https://doi.org/10.1257/aeri.20190232.

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CBC Marketplace. The Real Cost of Being a Woman in Canada: Investigating the Pink Tax. CBC, 2023, https://www.cbc.ca/marketplace.

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Directive (EU) 2022/542. Amending Directive 2006/112/EC as Regards Rates of Value Added Tax. European Parliament, 2022, https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:32022L0542.

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European Commission. Integrated Tariff of the European Communities (TARIC Database). 2024, https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/dds2/taric/taric_consultation.jsp.

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European Parliament. Taxation’s Role in Achieving Gender Equality: Subcommittee on Tax Matters Hearing. 2025, https://www.europarl.europa.eu/committees/en/fisc/home/highlights.

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Fajgelbaum, Pablo D., et al. "The Return to Protectionism." Quarterly Journal of Economics, vol. 135, no. 1, 2020, pp. 1–55. https://doi.org/10.1093/qje/qjz036.

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Joint Economic Committee, U.S. Congress. The Pink Tax: How Gender-Based Pricing Hurts Women’s Buying Power. July 2016, https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/2016/7/the-pink-tax.

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New York City Department of Consumer Affairs. From Cradle to Cane: The Cost of Being a Female Consumer. 2015, https://www.nyc.gov/assets/dca/downloads/pdf/partners/Study-of-Gender-Pricing-in-NYC.pdf.

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Rogan, Janine. The Pink Tax: Dismantling a Financial System Designed to Keep Women Broke. HarperCollins, 2023.

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U.S. Census Bureau. U.S. Imports of Apparel and Accessories. 2022, https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/index.html.

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U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). The Economic Effects of Significant U.S. Import Restraints. USITC Pub. No. 4614, 2016, https://www.usitc.gov/publications/332/pub4614.pdf.