American consumers have become used to buying T-shirts, plushies and other knick-knacks from the likes of Temu and Shein at rock-bottom prices. Whether they knew it or not, their bargains were partly the result of an old tax loophole that is now being taken away. Fortunately for them, the future of online binge-buying remains cheap, if a little less cheerful.
President Donald Trump’s crackdown on the “de minimis rule” — which allows overseas packages valued at $800 or less to enter the US tax-free as long as they are sent directly to individuals — means that a $10 mini skirt, dinner-plate set or inflatable hamburger outfit will now be subject to normal import taxes as well as the extra 10 per cent tariff that Trump has levied on all imports from China.
Temu, in particular, has been preparing for this day. The online store, part of Chinese internet group PDD, has been growing strongly. Bernstein Research reckons its global gross merchandise value — the total of all goods sold — jumped from $17bn in 2023 to more than $50bn last year. The figure could double to $97bn by 2026, according to Goldman Sachs.