The next time you buy shampoo, lotion, bodywash or your favorite face mask you might notice prices creeping up. That’s because containers for personal care come heavily from China, Canada and Mexico, and these countries are the targets of tariffs by the Trump administration.
You may not realize, but the beauty industry has a heavy reliance on China as a source of containers, and that’s not likely to change soon. The level of creativity in containers and choice of options in plastic or glass make China a major source of packaging materials for personal care and makeup products. Estimates from 2020 figure that more than 30% of the bottles and lids brought into the U.S. were made in China. Other substantial chunks came from Canada, Mexico and South Korea. A more recent 2025 report estimates that 43% of personal care packaging globally comes out of the Asia-Pacific region.
Buyer appeal
As the founder of a skincare and personal care brand, I know that the choice of packaging for a personal care product is exceptionally important. Unique bottle colors, shapes, decoration and closures help differentiate brands and create shelf appeal. The choice of container may also consider issues like the viscosity of the product, sensitivity to light, how it needs to dispense, and possible eco-friendliness.
It’s not cheap or easy to change containers once a personal care brand has committed to a look and supply chain. The containers they use are often unique and may require tooling and special color mixing. The cost to package or repackage a line of products could encompass hundreds of thousands of dollars of expenses, including design, printing and photography assets.
In 2019, President Trump levied a 25% tariff on Chinese containers, theoretically because of their “unfair” competition with American-made containers. Now, in slightly over a month, another 20% has been added, totaling 45%
The additional 20% tariffs on Chinese containers that have been put in place in the past month will add about $0.108 of cost per container for my company, Blissoma, which translates into about a 65-cent to 86-cent increase in the retail price paid by consumers for finished goods.
Every 10% additional tariff on Chinese containers could increase the price of many personal care products by 32 cents to 43 cents. Last fall Trump originally threatened tariffs totaling possibly 60% to 100% on Chinese goods. Based on the speed with which the Chinese tariffs were increased it’s very concerning that tariffs could reach those extreme levels.
The struggle is real
Tariffs are paid in cash when a shipment of containers arrives in the USA. That means brands have to consider pricing changes now in order to be able to afford their next shipment of containers and closures. The uncertainty and volatility with which tariff policies are being enacted does not allow for prudent planning, creating unnecessary risk.
Tariffs are the proverbial cherry on top of the personal care industry’s lengthy list of strains after handling MoCRA, or the Modernization of Cosmetics Regulation Act of 2022, registration, rising minimum order quantities for components and finished goods, increasing customer acquisition costs, rising shipping rates, increases to employee pay to keep up with inflation, and reduced consumer spending. There’s no margin left for additional expenses. In 2024, innovation in the personal care industry already hit its lowest level since 1996.
Brands need to be reinvesting and putting money toward staying competitive in the global market. Rising tariffs on containers and closures create real, substantial risk to manufacturing jobs in the personal care industry in the U.S.
We would gladly buy more containers from within the U.S. if they had more creative, cost-effective options to do so. The cost savings on shipping alone would be tremendous. We’ve had time to see the effect of tariffs since 2020, and container options in the U.S. are no more competitive than they were.
Tariffs don’t just fund innovation at container manufacturers in the USA. Instead tariffs go directly into the U.S. Treasury where they can be used for essentially anything. That pile of unearmarked money can go to pet projects, to pay for unelected advisers to fly on Air Force One, or to pay for costs of a historically high number of presidential golf outings.
Personal care products represent one area of government policy that will affect the purchasing power of every person. Soon American shoppers, employees in the personal care industry, and entrepreneurs will all be feeling the squeeze while someone else enjoys the juice.
Julie Longyear is an herbal chemist and founder and owner of Blissoma, a sophisticated, unique and potent collection of botanical skincare products that proactively heal skin and enhance health.
Illustration: Dom Guzman
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