Peak Selling Season of Saudi Shemagh

 A seller displays dozens of shemaghs, as sales reach their peak at the end of Ramadan. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A seller displays dozens of shemaghs, as sales reach their peak at the end of Ramadan. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT
20

Peak Selling Season of Saudi Shemagh

 A seller displays dozens of shemaghs, as sales reach their peak at the end of Ramadan. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
A seller displays dozens of shemaghs, as sales reach their peak at the end of Ramadan. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Experts in the manufacturing and import of the Saudi shemagh revealed that this traditional dress has reached the highest annual sales season, recording sales estimated at about 900 million riyals annually.

They pointed to new consumer trends, especially among the younger generation, as a number of international brands have joined the race to acquire the biggest share of the market.

The shemagh is a traditional garment for men in the Arabian Gulf region and some Arab regions in Iraq, Jordan, Syria and Yemen, where it is considered part of the culture men’s clothing, whether at work or during social events and others.

In remarks to Asharq Al-Awsat, CEO of Al-Imtiaz Company Ltd., Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al-Ajlan, said that the volume of the shemagh market ranged between 700 and 900 million riyals annually.

He added that between 9 and 11 million shemaghs and ghutras were sold annually, stressing that the percentage of sales during Eid al-Fitr season and other holidays represented nearly 50 percent of the annual sales volume.

Regarding market and consumer trends, Al-Ajlan indicated that the majority of consumers of the shemagh and ghutra belonged to the young generation born between 1997 and 2012.

He noted that international brands, such as Pierre Cardin, S.T. Dupont, Cerruti 1881 and others, have joined the shemagh and ghutra market, contributing to raising the quality and specifications of the product.

For his part, Nasser Al-Hamid, manager of a shemagh shop in Riyadh, explained that the sales increase in the last ten days of Ramadan every year and reach their peak in the last two nights before Eid al-Fitr.

Hamid also noted that the market has witnessed, in the last ten years, a variety of new designs and brands, paving the way for a greater competition between companies in terms of quality and price, and in marketing campaigns.



Trump Warns No Country 'Off the Hook' on Tariffs

12 April 2025, US, Miami: President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump greets fans at UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Photo: Alejandro Salazar/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
12 April 2025, US, Miami: President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump greets fans at UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Photo: Alejandro Salazar/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
TT
20

Trump Warns No Country 'Off the Hook' on Tariffs

12 April 2025, US, Miami: President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump greets fans at UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Photo: Alejandro Salazar/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
12 April 2025, US, Miami: President of the United States of America Donald J. Trump greets fans at UFC 314 at the Kaseya Center in Miami, Florida. Photo: Alejandro Salazar/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

US President Donald Trump warned Sunday that no country would be "getting off the hook" on tariffs, as his administration suggested exemptions seen as favoring China would be short-lived.

The world's two largest economies have been locked in a fast-moving, high-stakes game of brinkmanship since Trump launched a global tariff assault that particularly targeted Chinese imports, AFP said.

Tit-for-tat exchanges have seen US levies imposed on China rise to 145 percent, and Beijing setting a retaliatory 125 percent band on US imports.

The US side had appeared to dial down the pressure slightly on Friday, listing tariff exemptions for smartphones, laptops, semiconductors and other electronic products for which China is a major source.

Trump and some of his top aides said Sunday that the exemptions had been misconstrued and would only be temporary as his team pursued fresh tariffs against many items on the list.

"NOBODY is getting 'off the hook'... especially not China which, by far, treats us the worst!" he posted on his Truth Social platform.

Earlier, Beijing's Commerce Ministry had said Friday's move only "represents a small step" and insisted that the Trump administration should "completely cancel" the whole tariff strategy.

Chinese President Xi Jinping warned Monday -- as he kicked off a tour of Southeast Asia with a visit to manufacturing powerhouse Vietnam -- that protectionism "will lead nowhere".

Writing in an article published in a Vietnamese newspaper, Xi urged the two countries to "resolutely safeguard the multilateral trading system, stable global industrial and supply chains, and open and cooperative international environment."

He also reiterated Beijing's line that a "trade war and tariff war will produce no winner."

Asian stock markets rose Monday after Trump's announcement of the tariff exemptions.

Short-lived relief?

Washington's new exemptions will benefit US tech companies such as Nvidia and Dell as well as Apple, which makes iPhones and other premium products in China.

The relief could, however, be short-lived with some of the exempted consumer electronics targeted for upcoming sector-specific tariffs on goods deemed key to US national defense networks.

On Air Force One Sunday, Trump said tariffs on the semiconductors -- which powers any major technology from e-vehicles and iPhones to missile systems -- "will be in place in the not distant future."

"Like we did with steel, like we did with automobiles, like we did with aluminum... we'll be doing that with semiconductors, with chips and numerous other things," he said.

"We want to make our chips and semiconductors and other things in our country," Trump reiterated, adding that he would do the same with "drugs and pharmaceuticals.

The US president said he would announce tariffs rates for semiconductors "over the next week," while his commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, said they would likely be in place "in a month or two.

The US president sent financial markets into a tailspin earlier this month by announcing sweeping import taxes on dozens of trade partners, only to abruptly announce a 90-day pause for most of them.

China was excluded from the reprieve.

The White House says Trump remains optimistic about securing a deal with China, although administration officials have made it clear they expect Beijing to reach out first.

Trump's trade representative Jamieson Greer told CBS "Face the Nation" on Sunday that "we don't have any plans" for talks between the US president and his Chinese counterpart Xi.

China looks elsewhere

China has sought to present itself as a stable alternative to an erratic Washington, courting countries spooked by the global economic storm.

Besides Vietnam, Xi will also visit Malaysia and Cambodia, seeking to tighten regional trade ties and with plans to meet his three Southeast Asian counterparts.

The fallout from Trump's tariffs -- and subsequent whiplash policy reversals -- has sent particular shockwaves through the US economy, with investors dumping government bonds, the dollar tumbling and consumer confidence plunging.

Adding to the pressure on Trump, Wall Street billionaires -- including a number of his own supporters -- have openly criticized the tariff strategy as damaging and counterproductive.

The White House insists the aggressive policy is bearing fruit, saying dozens of countries have already opened trade negotiations to secure a deal before the 90-day pause ends.

"We're working around the clock, day and night, sharing paper, receiving offers and giving feedback to these countries," Greer told CBS.