A tax of 120 percent will hit those small packages beginning May 2, which could destroy the business model that enabled Shein and Temu to thrive by selling very small orders over the Internet and shipping the products directly to customers without any distribution presence in the United States. The Chinese government could also step in with subsidies to help manufacturers survive the trade war, provided it does not continue for too long, and emerging digital marketplaces like TikTok’s new online shop — combined with the huge network of social media influencers cultivated by Chinese merchants — might drum up enough business to weather the trade war. Some of the e-commerce merchants interviewed by the SCMP and Washington Post also spoke of finding alternative markets to sell their products, but sprinkled through those Shenzhen interviews were uncomfortable admissions that no one buys like the American consumer, and many of China’s e-commerce enterprises were tailored to meet the eccentric demands of American impulse buyers.
Author: John Hayward, John Hayward
Published at: 2025-04-16 21:43:12
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