Tariff war sparks panic buying of K-beauty products in the US

On his first-ever trip to South Korea this week, American tourist Jonathan Ko made a beeline for the country's health and beauty retail giant Olive Young's flagship store in Myeongdong, Seoul's trendy shopping street.

- Wendy Teo

SEOUL -

There, he swept up 500,000 Korean won (S$463) worth of sunscreen, face masks and creams for personal use and to give away to friends back in the US.

The 34-year-old, who lives in Los Angeles, California, usually orders Korean skincare products online.

But with "the tariffs driving up prices for everything", Mr Ko thought it was a good time to stock up since he was in Seoul for a one-week holiday, he told The Sunday Times outside the Olive Young outlet on April 17.

According to American media, consumers in the US are panic buying K-beauty products before higher prices hit after US President Donald Trump announced on April 2 a tariff blitz on the country's trading partners.

A Washington Post report on April 10 included South Korean-made sunscreen on a list of items that it said American consumers are frantically adding to their online shopping carts, citing data from social media and online message boards.

The Atlantic magazine carried a report on April 5 titled "My Snail Mucin Is Caught In A Trade War", referring to the slime that snails produce, an ingredient popularised by K-beauty products.

Meanwhile, fashion titles Allure and Vogue wrote about "How Much More Expensive Will Beauty Products Get As Tariffs Take Effect?" and "How US Tariffs Would Hit Beauty" respectively.

On social media platform Reddit, South Korean-made sunscreen ranked high among netizens in a thread dedicated to "the beauty products worth buying now", with some saying that they have stocked up on their "beloved" products just in case.

The panic buying comes as South Korea was slapped with a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff rate - among the worst hit of countries with existing free trade agreements with the US.