After customers balked at high import charges, Temu stopped shipping to the US completely.
Shopping on Temu for items at bargain prices has been a joy for many customers since the e-commerce giant launched in the US in 2022, but the trade policies recently instituted by President Donald Trump have put that relationship at major risk.
At the end of April, Temu raised prices and added "import charges" that were sometimes more than the cost of the products themselves. Customers balked, traffic to Temu plummeted and sales dropped considerably. The import charges and price increases followed the Trump administration's revocation of the "de minimis" exemption, which previously allowed goods under $800 to enter the US from mainland China and Hong Kong duty-free.
Now, Temu is taking a different tack. The company has stopped shipping products from China to US customers. Instead, all sales to buyers in the US are now managed by "locally based sellers," with orders fulfilled domestically to keep prices low.
"Temu's pricing for US consumers remains unchanged as the platform transitions to a local fulfillment model," a Temu representative said in a statement to CNET. "Temu has been actively recruiting US sellers to join the platform."
To see exactly how the US tariffs are changing the prices of everyday products, check out the CNET tariff pricing tracker
Which Temu items are impacted by US tariff rules?
Because Temu stopped shipping to the US and began fulfilling orders from locally based sellers, none of the products on the Temu site are affected by the new US tariff rules right now.
When US warehouses run out of Temu inventory, however, shipping may begin again, and if the current tariffs and de minimis situation with Chinese goods remains, the price hikes are likely to be significant. Shein, a similar Chinese e-commerce platform located in Singapore, could be an indicator of what might happen to Temu.
Shein has adjusted its prices in various notable categories. Beauty and health products have seen an average increase of 51%, while home and kitchen goods an increase of 30%. A recent survey of 300 women's clothing items by the Washington Post found that prices were higher by an average of 43%.
According to The Daily Beast, a kitchen towel's price jumped from $1.28 to $6.10 (377% increase) and a meat shredder rose from $2.91 to $9.02 (219% increase).
These changes are part of a broader trend where US shoppers are facing rising costs on imported goods. The elimination of the "de minimis" rule along with the imposition of higher tariffs has disrupted the business models of these fast-fashion retailers, leading to increased prices for consumers.
