0:00:00.000,0:00:00.366 Here's why 0:00:00.366,0:00:01.200 some of the best, 0:00:01.200,0:00:02.200 most affordable skin 0:00:02.200,0:00:03.133 care is about to 0:00:03.133,0:00:04.200 get more expensive. 0:00:04.200,0:00:05.500 The Trump administration 0:00:05.500,0:00:07.666 recently proposed a 25 percent 0:00:07.666,0:00:08.700 tariff on goods 0:00:08.700,0:00:09.733 coming into the U.S. 0:00:09.733,0:00:11.066 from South Korea, 0:00:11.066,0:00:12.566 which means fans of Korean 0:00:12.566,0:00:13.666 skin-care and beauty 0:00:13.666,0:00:15.700 products, or K-beauty, 0:00:15.700,0:00:17.233 may have to start paying more 0:00:17.233,0:00:18.900 for what used to be cheap, 0:00:18.900,0:00:20.533 high-quality skin care. 0:00:20.533,0:00:21.133 When Korean 0:00:21.133,0:00:21.700 beauty products 0:00:21.700,0:00:23.066 came to the U.S. several years 0:00:23.066,0:00:25.233 ago, beauty fans were obsessed 0:00:25.233,0:00:26.566 with how affordable 0:00:26.566,0:00:27.566 and, honestly, better 0:00:27.566,0:00:28.700 they were than U.S. 0:00:28.700,0:00:29.233 products, 0:00:29.233,0:00:30.866 especially our sunscreen. 0:00:30.866,0:00:32.900 Our FDA is notoriously slow 0:00:32.900,0:00:33.633 at approving new 0:00:33.633,0:00:35.233 sunblock technology, so 0:00:35.233,0:00:35.500 compared to 0:00:35.500,0:00:36.700 a lot of other countries, 0:00:36.700,0:00:38.700 our sun care is outdated. 0:00:38.700,0:00:39.500 It's usually a lot 0:00:39.500,0:00:41.400 gloopier, harder to rub in, 0:00:41.400,0:00:42.700 and more expensive. 0:00:42.700,0:00:43.333 But K-beauty 0:00:43.333,0:00:44.966 sunscreen has newer filters 0:00:44.966,0:00:46.366 that rub in more easily. 0:00:46.366,0:00:47.200 They don't leave a white 0:00:47.200,0:00:48.566 cast on your skin, 0:00:48.566,0:00:50.866 and they usually round about $15, 0:00:50.866,0:00:51.500 when the closest 0:00:51.500,0:00:52.766 counterpart in the U.S. 0:00:52.766,0:00:54.100 would be, like, $40. 0:00:54.100,0:00:55.233 So skin-care 0:00:55.233,0:00:56.466 enthusiasts like me 0:00:56.466,0:00:58.100 have been importing K-beauty 0:00:58.100,0:00:59.200 to get access 0:00:59.200,0:01:00.800 to that better sunscreen 0:01:00.800,0:01:02.433 and to products that use ingredients 0:01:02.433,0:01:03.533 you wouldn't normally 0:01:03.533,0:01:05.466 find in U.S. skin care, 0:01:05.466,0:01:07.466 like snail mucin. 0:01:07.466,0:01:08.533 But now that snail mucin 0:01:08.533,0:01:09.800 is caught in a trade war. 0:01:09.800,0:01:10.900 With this new tariff, 0:01:10.900,0:01:11.600 one expert 0:01:11.600,0:01:13.100 I talked to said K-beauty 0:01:13.100,0:01:14.233 brands will probably wait 0:01:14.233,0:01:15.566 at least a year before 0:01:15.566,0:01:17.433 figuring out their next moves— 0:01:17.433,0:01:19.300 so whether that's to just stop 0:01:19.300,0:01:20.966 focusing so much on U.S. 0:01:20.966,0:01:21.733 markets 0:01:21.733,0:01:22.966 or maybe to double down 0:01:22.966,0:01:24.033 and move their factories 0:01:24.033,0:01:25.300 into the United States, 0:01:25.300,0:01:26.233 where they'd be able 0:01:26.233,0:01:27.800 to avoid the tariffs. 0:01:27.800,0:01:28.500 But ironically, 0:01:28.500,0:01:29.900 even if the tariffs do succeed 0:01:29.900,0:01:31.100 and bring more manufacturing 0:01:31.100,0:01:32.100 into the U.S., 0:01:32.100,0:01:33.433 in the case of K-beauty, 0:01:33.433,0:01:34.766 that'll mean that the products 0:01:34.766,0:01:37.066 have lost their strongest appeal: 0:01:37.066,0:01:39.500 that they aren't made in the USA. 0:01:39.500,0:01:41.333 One really famous K-beauty 0:01:41.333,0:01:43.166 brand, Beauty of Joseon, 0:01:43.166,0:01:44.700 moved their manufacturing 0:01:44.700,0:01:45.266 to the U.S. 0:01:45.266,0:01:46.100 a while back, 0:01:46.100,0:01:47.366 and beauty enthusiasts 0:01:47.366,0:01:48.100 have been less 0:01:48.100,0:01:49.500 than impressed with the products 0:01:49.500,0:01:50.133 they've designed 0:01:50.133,0:01:51.700 for the U.S. market. 0:01:51.700,0:01:52.466 Their sunscreen, 0:01:52.466,0:01:53.366 which they formulated 0:01:53.366,0:01:54.900 with the older filters approved by 0:01:54.900,0:01:55.833 the FDA, 0:01:55.833,0:01:57.000 has been criticized, 0:01:57.000,0:01:58.933 fairly or not, by beauty reviewers 0:01:58.933,0:02:00.700 as just not being as good 0:02:00.700,0:02:02.033 as the Korean version. 0:02:02.033,0:02:03.300 So when it comes to tariffs, 0:02:03.300,0:02:03.633 "Made in 0:02:03.633,0:02:04.500 the USA" 0:02:04.500,0:02:05.866 might not mean you're actually 0:02:05.866,0:02:06.400 getting the best 0:02:06.400,0:02:07.966 skin care out there.