U.S. Is by Far Temu's Biggest Market

Temu, the Chinese e-commerce company, said Friday that it was stopping shipments directly to consumers in the United States as the country started to impose duties even on parcels of low values. Direct mailings from China to other countries are central to the business model of Temu, which offers goods of sometimes questionable quality at cut-rate prices. Over the last week, pictures of Temu checkout screens popped up online, showing increased imports fees exceeding the value of the orders by more than 100 percent. However, according to reports, the company was now only showing items from local warehouses to U.S. customers, a strategy it said it was transitioning to.

Either way, Temu prices are bound to increase for U.S. customers now that the direct shipment loophole, also called the "de minimis" loophole, has been closed. But losing U.S. business could also hurt Temu which makes almost a third of its revenue in the country. Data by ECDB also shows that Temu's gross merchandise volume rose by an incredible 239 percent between 2023 and 2024 to $47.5 billion.