The EU clamps down on SHEIN, while Keir Starmer cosies up to them

The Chinese-founded fast fashion retailer SHEIN made the news once again this week. Previously, the company hit headlines for its 75-hour working weeks, its AI algorithm that steals from artists, the psyop factory tour it sent clueless influencers on, its 3p per item working wage… the list goes on, and on, and on. But it seems like now, finally, global governing bodies are starting to clamp down on the company’s pernicious business moves.

Last week, the EU requested information from both SHEIN and Temu about how they were complying with the Digital Services Act, a new law made in 2022 regarding illegal content, disinformation and transparent advertising. The statement from the European Commission said that the companies were to “provide more information on the measures they have taken to comply with the DSA obligations” which include protection of minors, not selling counterfeit products, and not deceiving customers via “dark patterns” (tricks that make you buy something you didn’t mean to). Both SHEIN and Temu have until July 12 to comply.

While this sounds like good news for people living in the EU, people in the UK have that tiny thing called Brexit to worry about. As the Digital Service Act is only applicable to EU member states, the UK isn’t afforded the same protections against SHEIN as our European neighbours (yay, we got our country back!) Here, we have a similar law to the DSA called the UK Online Safety Act that also restricts illegal content from retailers, but there’s been no official communication about how our government plans to deal with SHEIN specifically.

So if British politicians aren’t doing their best to limit the negative effects of fast fashion, then what are they doing? Well, cosying up to SHEIN of course! Last month, Keir Starmer’s Labour Party met with executives and announced it was supporting the company in its bid to set up its business in the UK and list SHEIN on the London Stock Exchange. According to The Guardian, shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds met with SHEIN’s executive chair Donald Tang in early June to discuss the move. Despite calls from senior UK politicians to block the flotation based on allegations of forced labour, and Amnesty International referring to the deal as a “badge of shame” for London, the listing is all set to go ahead, with the company filing its paperwork at the beginning of last week.

As we all know, it’s looking like Labour will win tomorrow’s general election by a significant majority, so what they think on the matter is important. Recently, a spokesperson for the party told The Guardian that they expect “the highest regulatory standards and business practices” from SHEIN, and Reynolds also told the Financial Times “if a listing was to be considered I want that [to be in the UK] because I would know that is the way we could enforce the highest standards.”

Despite these words, Labour’s actions have said the polar opposite. As well as supporting SHEIN’s flotation on the London stock market, just two weeks ago party leadership confirmed that it had no plans to curb SHEIN’s use of a UK tax loophole that allows it to avoid import duties, once again making concessions for the fast fashion giant. This behaviour comes in stark contrast to the EU, who – according to reports in today’s FT – will be scrapping a €150 threshold under which items can be bought duty-free. This means that the amount of substandard fast fashion bought and shipped into the EU could drop dramatically. While it’s not useful (or necessarily true) to venerate the EU as some bastion of progressive politics, it seems that Brussels is doing a lot more than Keir Starmer to reassure the public about the effects of companies like SHEIN. What we need right now is a government who will stand up to the damaging influence of fast fashion, not cosy up to it as the landfills become packed to burst.