Shein and Temu see U.S. call for plunge on ‘de minimis’ industry loophole closure

Use of low cost e-commerce giants Temu and Shein has slowed considerably in the important thing U.S. marketplace amid President Donald Trump’s price lists on Chinese imports and the closure of the de minimis loophole, new information presentations.

Temu’s U.S. day by day lively customers (DAUs) dropped 52% in May as opposed to March, earlier than Trump’s price lists have been introduced, whilst the ones at rival Shein have been down 25%, in keeping with information shared with CNBC by means of marketplace intelligence company Sensor Tower.

DAUs is a measure of the quantity of people that seek advice from or engage with a platform each 24 hours. Monthly lively customers (MAUs), a measure of consumer engagement over a 30-day duration, used to be additionally down at Temu (30%) and Shein (12%) in May as opposed to March.

The declines have been additionally mirrored in each platforms’ Apple App Store ratings. Temu averaged a rank of 132 in May 2025, down from a median most sensible 3 score a 12 months in the past, whilst Shein averaged a rank of 60 remaining month as opposed to a most sensible 10 score the 12 months prior, the information confirmed.

Neither Temu nor Shein right away replied to CNBC’s request for remark.

The consumer drop off comes as each Temu and Shein have pulled again on U.S. promoting spend over fresh months because the Trump management’s tariff bulletins.

Trump in April introduced sweeping price lists on Chinese imports, together with the finish of the “de minimis” tariff exemption on May 2, which allowed firms to send low cost items value lower than $800 to the U.S. tariff-free.

In May, Temu’s U.S. advert spend fell 95% year-on-year whilst Shein’s used to be down 70%.

“Temu and Shein’s decline in US ad spend was also noticeable in April, as spend decreased by 40% and 65% YoY, respectively,” Seema Shah, vp of analysis and insights at Sensor Tower, stated in emailed feedback to CNBC.

Both Temu and Shein additionally altered their logistics fashions within the wake of price lists, transferring clear of a drop delivery fashion, which allowed them to ship pieces immediately from Chinese providers to U.S. shoppers, and as an alternative, specifically in Temu’s case, build up a community of U.S. warehouses.

Rui Ma, founder and analyst at Tech Buzz China, stated such strikes have been additionally prone to have impacted the corporations’ advert spend technique and buyer acquisition patterns.

“All these additional costs and regulatory hurdles are clearly hurting Chinese platforms’ U.S. growth prospects,” she wrote in emailed feedback. 

Tech Buzz China analysis from March confirmed {that a} 50% tariff will be the level at which Temu would lose maximum of its value benefits and to find it tough to perform. The tariff on former de minimis imports these days stands at 54%, having been diminished from 120% amid a 90-day tariff truce between the U.S. and China.

Last week, Temu’s mum or dad corporate PDD Holdings reported first-quarter profits beneath estimates and pointed to price lists as an important power on dealers.

Temu’s reputation has nonetheless picked up out of doors the U.S., with non-U.S. customers emerging to account for 90% of the platform’s 405 million international MAUs in the second one quarter, in keeping with HSBC.

Writing in a word remaining week, HSBC analysts stated that used to be “supported by growth in Europe, Latin America, and South America.” They added that the swiftest of that enlargement took place in “less affluent markets.”

“Many (Chinese platforms) are now actively redirecting their efforts toward other markets such as Europe,” Ma stated.