Jaque Silva | Nurphoto | Getty images
The Chinese e-tailer TEMU began to add “import costs” of around 145% in response to President Donald Trump’s prices.
The costs, which began to arise during the weekend after the entry into force of price increases, cost more than individual products that consumers buy and may more than double the price of a typical order.
For example, a summer dress sold on TEMU for $ 18.47 will cost $ 44.68 after $ 26.21 in import costs are added to the invoice, a surcharge of 142%, according to a CNBC analysis. A child’s swimsuit at a price of $ 12.44 will cost buyers $ 31.12 when import costs of $ 18.68 will be taken into account, narcotic costs of 150%. A portable vacuum cleaner listed at $ 16.93 now costs $ 40.11 when taking import costs of $ 21.68, which represents an increase of around 137%.
Articles for sale on TEMU with import costs.
With kind permission: Tem
“Articles imported into the United States can be subject to import costs.” The amount listed may not represent the actual amount paid to the customs authorities. ”
TEMU representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comments.
The Rival discount retailer, Shein, has also increased prices on his site, but he does not seem to implement import costs. The company added a banner to the cash register which stipulates: “The prices are included in the price you pay. You will never have to pay more on delivery.”
The movements intervene after Tamu and Shein warned earlier this month that they would increase their prices after Trump slapped a 145% rate on many imports from China and promised to end Minmis’s exemption on May 2. The widely criticized escape has contributed to accelerating the growth of TEMU and Shein in the United States because it has enabled most of the packages to enter the country, long since imports have been evaluated under the United States.
“Due to recent changes in global trade rules and prices, our operating expenses have increased,” said TEMU on its site earlier this month. “To continue to offer the products you like without compromising quality, we will make price adjustments from April 25, 2025.”
Import costs erode the value proposal that made TEMU popular with consumers in the first place. TEMU, which belongs to the Chinese electronic commerce giant PDD holdingsFlounted in popularity in the United States since its launch in 2022 by using the Internet with advertisements proclaiming that users can “shop as a billionaire”. Although shipping times can be long, consumers have flocked to the site because the rock prices of clothing, electronics and household products have caused it to be worth it.
TEMU allowed consumers short of money to fight to afford essential elements such as grocery store and housing to make follies on pleasant items such as new clothes or interior decoration without the high price. Now, the prices of many of its products will be more aligned with American competitors such as Amazon,, Walmart And TargetBut could still take more than a week to arrive.
TEMU has greatly reduced its online advertising expenses in the United States since Trump announced scanning prices. TEMU’s ranking in Apple A App Store has since dropped to n ° 73, after a constant classification in the top 10, according to data from the sensor tower. Shein is currently at 54, down compared to 15 years last month.
‘It was good while it lasted’
TEMU buyers have flooded a Reddit forum with posts of denouncing the import costs induced by the prices in the days which followed the price increase. In an article entitled “RIP TEMU, it was good while it lasted”, a user wrote that the price of articles “went to fly” on Friday.
“Shopping like a billionaire with purchases like a peasant in one day,” a user wrote in a separate article from Reddit on Saturday.
Macinzi Morris, a Temu client who lives in southeast Missouri, said that he had ordered a set of succulent pots for $ 12.25 before the company begins to increase prices. Friday, the pots reached $ 30, she said.
Morris buys yoga supplies, clothes and a variety of other products from the “Sometimes a month” site, but she expects to buy elsewhere now than the TEMU items are more expensive.
“There is no point in paying an overload of 140% when I can get the same thing on Amazon for the same price and generally get it a little faster,” said Morris.
Some media and consumers have followed modest price increases on individual items sold on TEMU – before import costs. It seems that new costs are only underway products that are not sold in local warehouses in the United States in the past year, TEMU has worked to build American distribution centers to protect themselves from trade tensions and have pushed certain sellers to store inventory in the United States
Recently, TEMU has promoted products that are sending American consumers locally to those who ship directly from China. This trend has only increased as the company increases prices and adds additional costs.
For example, an analysis of the TEMU “Lightning Deals” page on Monday showed more than 75% of the products offered had a “local” label on them. When consumers click on the articles, a brilliant green banner with the words “no import costs” is highlighted at the top.