The conflict reached the Court in the midst of the online shopping boom abroad

The case that was published this Wednesday Clarion It is already on the ticket table of the highest judicial court of Argentina after a conflict that originated in the jurisdictions over who should take the file.

The fair was exceptionally enabled to discuss the topic, It was expected that the case would be drawn and it would be decided which court it would fall to.. But finally ended up in court and it is the highest court that must decide who takes the case. A definition is expected from Monday when activity resumes.

The case escalated after the January 26, the Fair Room of the National Chamber of Appeals in Federal Administrative Litigation It refused to take up the proposal of the Chinese site, which operates under the business name Elementary Innovation Pte. Ltd, after the attribution of jurisdiction decided by the National Chamber of Federal Civil and Commercial Appeals Chamber Fair A on January 19, which considered that the case was not within its jurisdiction.

“The considerations made by the Fair Room of the Federal Administrative Litigation jurisdiction are not sufficient, in the opinion of this House, to modify the declaration of incompetence decided on January 19, 2026, based on the unconstitutionality of art. 53 of DNU 274/2019”, maintains the ruling issued this Wednesday.

“This Fair Hall maintains its decision, thus raising a negative conflict of jurisdiction. between this court and the National Court of Appeals in Federal Administrative Litigation, by virtue of which it is appropriate to refer the proceedings to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation,” he adds. And concludes: “Submit this digital file to the Supreme Court of Justice of the Nation”.

Asked about it, in Mercado Libre they acknowledged being aware of the escalation of the casebut they did not issue statements on the matter. Meanwhile, this medium tried to communicate with Temu, but did not receive a response.

The fight between the e-commerce platforms started in August, when Mercado Libre filed a complaint with the Secretary of Commerce against the Asian company, which last year closed an alliance with Andreani for the local distribution of their packages and it is all the rage among Argentines who buy online abroad and bring their products with the ‘door-to-door’ system with the flexibility of imports.

Mercado Libre accused Temu of misleading advertisingconsidering that it generated unfair competition, contrary to the provisions of the Commercial Loyalty Decree No. 274/2019.

⁠Commerce accepted the proposal and established a preventive measure so that Temu downloads these messages on own or third-party digital channels. But in November the Chinese site went to court: He asked the National Court of Appeals for Federal Civil and Commercial Matters for a precautionary measure to try to suspend the Secretariat’s measure.

In the defense he presented, The Chinese e-commerce platform stated that Mercado Libre’s complaint sought to harass it and make it difficult to enter the Argentine marketin an attempt to consolidate its dominant position held by the largest electronic commerce platform in Latin America.

He added that the company articulated a complaint lacking factual and evidentiary supportbased on partial or truncated evidence, with the aim of artificially raising entry barriers and hindering the entry of a new competitor into the Argentine market.

In this regard, Mercado Libre clarified that “This situation is strictly linked to compliance with regulations on misleading advertising. y It has no relation to the opening of importswhich Mercado Libre supports.”

They added that It has strictly to do with systematic misleading advertising linked to the communication of extreme discounts that generate a false expectation; Hidden points such as minimum purchase amounts and additional costs to the value of the product that appears at the end of the process, such as shipping; and deceptive gamification, with the use of games such as ‘the little wheel’ and raffles that promise prizes or gifts, which, according to Mercado Libre, generate psychological pressure to continue interacting or purchasing.

A reported example has to do with the offer of a $200,000 coupon that appears when opening the app, although later the user finds that to access that coupon they have to buy three items. They also pointed against Promotion of discounts of up to 940% ‘free shipping on all orders‘.