Two major Chinese-owned ecommerce platforms, Temu and Shein, are temporarily raising prices and unlisting products in response to new tariffs on Chinese imports announced by President Donald Trump. Sellers on both platforms reported a significant decrease in orders and some products became unavailable without notice.
Temu controls the prices consumers pay for products, rather than allowing sellers to set them. However, the platform has not notified sellers about price hikes, leaving them unaware of the changes. Shipping speeds have also slowed down due to increased customs clearance times.
The new tariffs eliminate a tax exemption for small packages valued under $800 that Temu and other ecommerce platforms relied on to send goods to consumers in the US. The exemption will stay in place until the US government figures out a way to process and collect tariffs on millions of low-value packages daily.
Chinese sellers are taking to social media to express their frustrations, while US shoppers are experiencing similar impacts on American social platforms like TikTok and Reddit. Despite this, both Temu and Shein continue to operate with some products stored in American warehouses to maintain faster shipping speeds.
Source: https://www.wired.com/story/tariffs-shein-temu-ecommercce