My Order From Temu Is Avoiding Import Expenses

After I positioned a Temu order final month, I assumed it will be my final hurrah — a last order earlier than new charges and tariffs took maintain. However it seems, Temu has native warehouses within the US — and I used to be capable of order once more on Tuesday with no further charges.

I made my final order on the day President Donald Trump introduced his plans to shut the “de minimis” loophole that allowed Temu and Shein to ship to the US with out paying obligation charges. I additionally obtained in beneath the wire earlier than vital tariffs for Chinese language-made items hit.

I waited with baited breath to see if my order — some low-cost battery-powered bubble wands — would arrive safely and with none further obligation charges (it did).

Since then, beginning earlier this week, Temu has began including a line merchandise at checkout for an “import cost” along with transport or the price of merchandise on some orders.

After I checked on Tuesday — taking a look at some objects I had left in my cart final month however did not purchase — the import charge was greater than the entire value of the merchandise. Mainly, it made my Temu haul a horrible deal — greater total prices than shopping for related objects at an everyday retailer.

I assumed this is able to imply curtains for Temu, the demise knell. Nobody could be prepared to pay these exorbitant further charges — solely somebody who by accident did not discover it at checkout would possibly (after which get actually mad later).

However it seems that is not precisely what’s occurring. Temu has 4D chess’d Trump’s tariffs in a method.

For some time now, Temu and Shein have been organising native warehouses within the US. Beforehand, these had been an choice that might be flagged to consumers as providing quicker transport.

Stuff that’s transport inside the US does not have to tackle that further “import charge” — that is just for packages transport from China.

Presumably, the stuff within the native warehouses has already been within the nation for some time, so for now, it is not affected by the opposite tariffs for items made in China that may ultimately be shipped right here.

Temu may be very aggressively prioritizing the “native warehouse” objects on its app and web site. (Temu did not instantly reply to a request for touch upon its technique.)

While you seek for an merchandise — I used to be in search of decorations and celebration favors for my daughter’s birthday — the highest outcomes (in actual fact, your entire web page of outcomes) are all from native warehouses. On product class pages for house items, toys, and girls’s clothes, all the outcomes for not less than two pages had been native warehouse objects.

The truth is, it was really onerous to browse for one thing that wasn’t shipped regionally.

Mainly, Temu has in a short time shifted its total storefront for US clients to point out them nearly solely native outcomes — the sorts of things that do not require import charges.

It is onerous to inform whether or not the precise costs on these may be barely greater than earlier than issues modified with Trump’s new insurance policies. Temu is a market with plenty of sellers, so usually, you would possibly discover objects that look practically equivalent promoting at barely completely different costs. The bubble toy I ordered in March value $4.22 however is not out there from that vendor; an identical model transport regionally is listed at  $7.61. (For comparability, Amazon sells a two-pack of the toy for round $16.)

What does this imply for buying from Temu?

For the brief time period, Temu clients will principally keep away from getting slammed with huge charges, it seems. However long-term, I would guess costs will most likely go up — these native warehouses might want to restock with merchandise from China, which shall be topic to tariffs.

Nonetheless, Temu’s rivals for reasonable family items, toys, and attire will even be feeling that very same squeeze from tariffs. And by then? Who is aware of what’s going to occur? Possibly my love affair with Temu is not over in spite of everything.