Luxury Investors Take Fright Amid Talk of China Border Crackdown
- LVMH, Kering, Shiseido fall on Chinese social media reports
- Posts speculate on tightened checks at Shanghai Pudong Airport
Chinese tourists pack purchases into suitcases outside a Laox store in the Ginza district of Tokyo.
Photographer: Yuriko Nakao/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Social media reports that China is cracking down on travelers returning home with suitcases full of luxury goods have alarmed investors in companies ranging from Japan’s Shiseido Co. to France’s LVMH and Kering SA.
Shares of the fashion and cosmetics giants plunged as videos of border guards looking for imports over the duty-free allowance of 5,000 yuan ($727) spread on the web, adding to jitters stemming from a trade war with the U.S. Meanwhile, a traveler’s customs receipt that’s being shared widely on social media shows a customs levy of 60 percent on some cosmetics.