On February 1, President Donald Trump issued a new Executive order in which he imposed 10% tariffs on all types of Chinese merchandise. That has ended up having an immediate impact on the business of Temu and Shein, two of the great Chinese electronic commerce platforms, and in the last hours a singular situation has been experienced.
Duty. The activation of the 10% rate on Chinese goods that arrive in the United States is one of the measures that Trump has created for increase taxes to the countries with which it is most traded. In fact, he raised 25% tariffs for Canada and Mexicoalthough it has postponed its application for 30 days.
No Chinese packages. The impact can be huge, and the first side effects have already been noticed. A few hours ago the US postal service stopped accepting packages from China and Hong Kong, which among other things caused all chaos between the Truck carriers They tried to carry their packages as they had done until then. Private courier companies such as UPS or Fedex did not announce restrictions at that time, indicate In The Verge.
Restored service. As they point out In CNBCthe postal service ended up accepting those packages. In a statement On their website they indicated that both they and the customs service were “collaborating closely to implement an effective mechanism for collection of new tariffs to China, in order to guarantee the least possible interruption of the delivery of packages.”
The exception “of Minimis”. China’s trade with the United States has benefited for years of an exception called “Minimis”, a Latin term that indicated that packages with value below $ 800 could enter the United States without paying taxes. It is a mechanism that platforms such as Shein or Temu have taken the opportunity to offer really competitive prices in their merchandise. They are not the only ones who have taken advantage of that “shortcut”, and also US companies such as Amazon, Etsy or Ebay have benefited from this exception.
Trump puts an end to minimis. But this exception, which carries about a century Active, was blocked by the new president of the United States. The impact of this measure can be enormous: the American customs agency Indian Recently that it processed more than 1.3 billion minimis shipments in 2024. Not only that: A report The US government revealed that Temu and Shein are “probably responsible” for more than 30 % of all minimis shipments that arrive in the US, and practically half of all shipments of this type that do not pay taxes came from China. The rise of electronic commerce and the avalanche of arrival of low value products made the limit of minimis products in 2016 rose from 200 to $ 800 With the Obama government.
To check all packages. The deactivation of the Minimis doctrine will cause the workload for messaging companies and postal service to increase colossally. In theory they must check all packages to verify that new regulations do not breach, something that could significantly delay (at least, initially) shipping times.
Can Temu and Shein continue competing? Both platforms benefited from Minimis and the absence of current tariffs to be able to sell their products at prices with which it was very difficult to compete. Amazon began a plan to do that precisely with the launch of Amazon Haul: All at less than $ 20although shipments are completed in a weeks. Trump’s measures could make Amazon change their plans with that service.
Most likely: that everything costs more. All these tariffs and taxes probably end up being paid by American consumers, for whom all products will probably be more expensive. As they explained In The Vergetariff rates “are a tax on the person or entity that imports goods, not to their exporter. A study of the National Bureau of Economic Research of October 2024 made it clear that American citizens with more tight economies will be the most affected.
Spain and the VAT package. The situation that is now lived with Minimis’s doctrine remembers what happened in Spain in 2021. It was then that the call was activated “Electronic Commerce VAT Package“That made VAT apply to shipments with a value not exceeding 150 euros. Chinese platforms such as Aliexpress, which took advantage The shortcuts of the lawthey were especially affected. A year later The firm itself made it clear that the mark in its income had been evident. The shopping experience for consumers also changed: They could not trust at all (at least, initially) of the price that appeared on the products of its website, which Normally it was more expensive.
A complicated future for Temu and Shein (and for their clients). The measures taken by the Trump administration will undoubtedly have a direct impact on the future of Temu, Shein and other Chinese electronic commerce platforms when operating in the United States. Price increases and perhaps delays in shipping times are expected. Bad news for China … and for US consumers who benefited from those Chinese products at competitive prices.
And a jug of cold water for finish or google. But that will also have negative effects for the US economy. It is estimated that last year Temu invested about 3,000 million dollars In online marketing, and Shein has been flooding Instagram for years by advertising their garments at balance prices. Meta indicated last year that 10% of their advertising income came from Chinese companies, and now all that money – which of course invested in other US platforms – could fate.
Image | Daniel Torok
