Your Favorite Cheap Made-In-China Shopping Sites Aren’t Going Dark — Yet
HuffPost
Temu and Shein will likely use the reprieve in tariffs with China to stock up U.S. warehouses, experts said.
China-based e-commerce sites Shein and Temu will get a chance to stock their U.S. warehouses due to the reprieve in tariffs announced this week, experts say, allowing them to keep fulfilling orders — for now, anyway.
The U.S. and China agreed Monday to cut tariffs for 90 days between the two countries from 145% to 30%, and the White House also announced that tariffs on small packages would be cut from 120% to 54%.
Those small shipments worth less than $800 previously didn’t pay tax or duties at all under what was known as the de minimis loophole. That loophole allowed companies like Shein and Temu to ship clothes, accessories and even gadgets directly from China to U.S. shoppers for ridiculously low prices.
When Trump’s tariffs were first announced, it seemed like that was all coming to an end. The de minimis loophole was closed on May 2. Earlier this month, Temu announced it would stop directly shipping from China to U.S. customers.
Shein and Temu have become hugely popular with American consumers. In 2022, Shein was valued at $100 billion, and as of January 2024, Temu had more than 50 million monthly U.S. active users.
