Goods from Temu Aliexpress Shein No Longer Cheap Near Soon
Goods from Temu Aliexpress Shein No Longer Cheap Near Soon
Goods from Temu Aliexpress Shein No Longer Cheap Near Soon.
The United States is considering ending tariff exemptions for Chinese e-commerce goods entering the country, according to recent reports by Reuters.
A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is planning to introduce a bill, potentially as early as Monday, aimed at removing tariff exemptions commonly used by e-commerce sellers to ship orders from China to U.S. customers, as confirmed by one of the sponsors.
Senator Bill Cassidy, a Republican sponsor of the bill, stated that once enacted, the legislation would prohibit such shipments from China. E-commerce sellers like Shein, founded in China, and Temu, a competitor of PDD Holdings Inc operating the Chinese e-commerce site Pinduoduo, have benefited significantly from these exemptions.
However, a federal briefing in April accused these companies of “exploiting” de minimis tariffs to circumvent import duties and illegally import items, including those produced using forced Uighur labor in China’s Xinjiang region.
Shein, in response, claimed that it does not have any manufacturers in Xinjiang.
The issue of micro-commerce has been a concern since at least 2019 when the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission highlighted difficulties in detecting unsafe imports due to the overwhelming number of low-value packages.
U.S. Customs data indicates that the volume of such shipments is projected to increase from 410.5 million in 2018 to 685.5 million in 2022.
The bill’s other sponsors include Republican Senator JD Vance and Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin.
The level of support for the proposed legislation remains uncertain. Last year, a similar bill introduced by Democratic Representative Earl Blumenauer failed to pass Congress.
Under the proposed bill, countries other than China and Russia could maintain their exemption by adopting an $800 threshold for duty-free imports of their own goods.
Furthermore, the bill would restrict the shipment of minimal packages to private shippers such as FedEx, UPS, and DHL, excluding the Postal Service.
