Shein, Temu is about to run out of cheap sales to the US

Americans like to shop on Shein, Temu and Aliexpress applications of China because of its cheap price and fast delivery. However, US President Donald Trump’s import duties may change this.

The new American policy will fill the holes that have existed for many years – De Minimis (too small to make sense). This is a policy that allows packages to be under a certain value threshold for tax exemption and customs inspection. This level in the US is 800 USD.

Chinese e -commerce websites have built a business model according to this gap. Loasing the regulations and tax exemption from low -value products has allowed consumers to buy billions of cheap packages each year, from clothes to household appliances.

The US Customs and Border Administration has the right to open and inspect all international packages, but in fact they do not open all packages. “If checking each package, the cost for consumers is very much. The delivery time is the same,” Clark Packard – a researcher at Cato Trade.

However, over the past few days, US -China trade tensions escalated. From December 4, all Chinese goods to the United States are subject to an additional 10%import tax. De Minimis policy is also removed. Beijing retaliated soon after, when the tax was 15% with coal, liquefied gas and 10% with crude oil, agricultural machinery, cars and trucks.

Stress begins to affect Temu and Shein customers. US postal service (UPS) on February 4 announced to stop receiving parcels, letters from mainland China and Hong Kong special zone. However, one day later, they restored this activity. Despite not giving the official reason for stopping the parcel, UPS refers to this regarding new import tax and eliminating the De Minimis policy.

In September 2024, the former US President Joe Biden government tried to tighten the abuse of this policy. The administration of President Donald Trump also announced it would prevent selling fentanyl from Mexico and Canada to the US in small packages. However, the number of parcels to the US soared over the past decade has been a big challenge for officials.

Christopher Tang – a supply chain management professor at the University of California (USA) said the De Minimis policy helped Chinese goods into the US to be very cheap. More than 80% of e -commerce packages delivered here in 2022 were imported under this policy, according to a report of the US Congress.

In 2023, the world’s largest economy imported US $ 66 billion in Chinese goods low, increasing sharply compared to US $ 5.3 billion in 2018.

The elimination of De Minimis policy will significantly drop the growth of Chinese e -commerce firms, Bank of America. Statista data shows that in 2023, the value of trading goods on the US was 15.1 billion USD. Most transactions take place in the second half of the year.

Last year, this e -commerce platform was the most free application downloaded in the US on Apple devices. This is the second consecutive year they lead. Shein ranked 12th.

In September 2024, shein said above CNBC That they always comply with import regulations. President Shein Donald Tang affirmed that he supported the efforts to reform the US De Minimis policy. At the same time, Temu spokesman said their growth “regardless of De Minimis policy”.

During Mr. Trump’s first term, “consumers suffered 90-100% of import tax,” Packard said. Therefore, this time, they will have to pay an additional 10% if buying Chinese goods. Besides, customs have not been equipped for handling changes at this level, so it can cause delays.

Christine McDaniel – a researcher at the Mercatus Center of George Mason University, said the removal of De Minimis affects the Temu and Shein, even Amazon, Ebay, Etsy and retailer transporting goods from China.

To minimize impact, Christopher Tang said companies can expand their warehouses in the US. They can buy large quantities to store in the warehouse, then deliver throughout the United States. However, this way still forced customers to pay import tax.

Or imported brands can deliver products to countries that are not taxed, then transport them to the US. But the cost of transportation incurred will be suffered by consumers.

Not only in the United States, Temu and Shein are also controlled in Europe. On February 5, the European Commission (EC) announced that it would collect new fees with imported e -commerce packages of these platforms. This is aimed at preventing non -standard products entering Europe. The EC also announced the toolkit to handle compliance issues of quality, environment and fair trade practice on platforms from China.