Temu’s daily US users cut in half following end of ‘de minimis’ loophole
Daily Temu Users in the US Drop Amid US-China Trade War
According to market intelligence firm Sensor Tower, daily US users of PDD Holdings’ global discount e-commerce platform, Temu, fell by 58% in May. This drop is one of the many challenges Temu is facing amidst the ongoing US-China trade war.
After the White House ended the “de minimis” practice on May 2, which allowed Chinese companies to ship low-value packages to the US tariff-free, Temu decided to reduce ad spending in the US and adjust its order fulfillment strategy.
Temu, along with Shein, had been utilizing this provision to drop-ship items directly from Chinese suppliers to US consumers, maintaining low prices. However, both platforms have experienced a decline in sales growth and customer growth rates since the implementation of trade tariffs, with Temu being more severely impacted than its rival.
As tariffs forced both platforms to raise prices, Shein has managed to increase the amount spent per customer compared to a year ago, while Temu has struggled to do so.
Despite the challenges, Temu has pledged to maintain stable prices and work closely with merchants across regions, including a shift to a local fulfillment model announced in May.
Temu’s growth in non-US markets has shown improvement, with non-US users accounting for 90% of its 405 million global monthly active users in the second quarter. Analysts note that new user growth has been fastest in less affluent markets.
