Temu Steers Users to ‘Local’ Products After Trump Shuts Tax Loophole

Chinese Online Retailer Temu Has Been Surfacing more products on its app President Donald Trump’s Decision to revoke a popular tax loophole.

The Nearly Century-old exception, Known as de Minimis, Has Been Used By Many E-Companies Companies to send Goods Worth Less Than $ 800 INTO THE DUTY The Us Duty-FRE. Trump on saturday Suspended the exemption as part of new tariffs that include an additional 10% tax on chinese goods.

De minimis has been helped proplosive growth in the us by allowing the companies to bypass taxes on low-value shipments, and sustain their rock-bottom prices on EVRETON Ure and electronics.

With the tariff exemption gone, tempe significly ramped up its promotion of sellers who have innovation in us warehouses, rather than items that are shipped direct from china. A scan of Listings in Temu’s “Lightning Deals” Section Shows that it’s almost Entrely Dominated by Products With a Green “Local” Badge.

By Promoting Local Inventory, Temu’s Products Not Only Arrive Faster To Shoppers’ Doorsteps, but the company also reduces its reduces its reliefs on sellers who shot direct from china. Even thought the products are stored in us warehouses, many local listings state that items are sold by businesses based in China.

Representatives from Temu Didn Bollywood to requests for comment.

Temu’s promotion of us-based products also puts it in more direct competition with Amazon, ebay and WalmartWhich have also also also signed up sellers in china who Ship Goods Overseas to their warehouses. Amazon Last Year Took Notice Of Temu and Shein’s Dramaatic Growth in the Us when it Launched Its OWN Budget Storefront, Called Haul,

Temu, which is owned by chinese online retailer PDD HoldingsBegan Onboarding Sellers with Inventory in Us Warehouses in March. By July, Roughly 20% of Temu’s us sales came from sellers, not merchants based in china, according to e-commerce market research film Marketplace Pulse,

Temu, Shein and other Chinese e-commerce companies are trying to minimize the level of disrupt to their services as they face new, more stringent customs requirements. They were thrown into further chaos on tuesday night When the US postal service abruptly announced it was suspending inbound packages from china and hong kong “until further notice.”

Less than 12 hours later, The USPS Reversed its decisionAnd resumes accepting packages from that regions. The agency also said it would work with us customs and border protection to “Implement an Efficient Collection Mechanism for the New China Tariffs to ENSREFS to Ensure

The uncertainty has created Volatility For PDD’s stock price which fell 6% on Monday, rose 8% on tuesday and fell more than 3% on Wedns.

Critics of the de minimis provision say it’s provided an unfair Advantage to Chinese e-Companies, and Created An Influx of Packages that are “Subject to Minimal Documentation and Inspo Feit and Unsafe Goods.

Others have advocated for the de minimis exemption to remain in place, Saying Its Removal Burden Customs Officials and Lead to Higher Government Costs,

“At some point there’s going to be 3 million of these goods piling up a day and customs can do their best, but they’re not equipped,” said hugo pakula, CEO of Supply Chain Compliance Companaly “They have to do 10x more screenings this week than last week.”

CBP has said it processed more than 1.3 billion de minimis shipments in 2024. A 2023 Report From the house select committee on the chinese communist party found that Temu and Shein Are “Likely Responsible”

Shein has also been courting us boyers and sellers. The company opened distribution centers in states include Illinois and California in 2022, and a supply chain hub in Seattle Last Year. The company said The Seattle hub would enable it to “Localize and Support Speeder Delivery Times for American Consures.”

Watch: Amazon haul takes on tem