Are Shein and Temu Prices Going Up? What to Know as Trump Ends De Minimis Tariff Loophole

A escape that has allowed US buyers to buy many cheap products from Continental and Hong Kong without paying tariffs and filling customs forms on Friday.

The prices have already risen.

The orders of many goods imported from retailers such as Shein and Temu could decrease as consumers go to high prices and the new inconvenience. But, as much of President Trump’s trade war, the administration policy on the escape has experienced changes. The president had ordered that the lagoon be closed in February, but then restored it in a few days. Logistics experts said the short closure caused a package dust on the borders.

What is disappearing exactly?

Since 2016, articles worth $ 800 or less could be imported to the United States without the payment rates of the recipient or even present the typicular paperwork associated with purchases of foreign goods. The lagoon is known as the exemption of Minimis. Trump is eliminating the exemption only for the assets of Continental China, the largest source of the minimis shipments and Hong Kong.

A report for Congress this year said that customs and border protection processed one billion minimis packages per year. The average shipping value in 2023 was $ 54.

Shipments worth less than $ 800 have been exempt because Congress believed that spending and discomfort of processing the issue did not justify customs income. Trump is finishing the exemption, in part, to try to avoid the flow of fentanyl and fentanyl precursors in the United States through minimis shipments.

Minimis shipments shot after Trump imposed tariffs to the duration of China in their first administration, a suggestion that people and companies resorted to narrower packages to avoid tariffs.

How is these heating buyers?

Since tariffs in Chinese products are punishing, minimis goods are already starting to cost much more.

That is evident to buyers at the Chinese Electronic Commerce Site. Recently, the company detailed the cost that tariffs would add to their purchases.

For example, a cart of 10 Temu items, which includes a package of 50 heavy duty hangers for $ 70.50, a green linen shirt for men for $ 19.38 and a spongy pink dog bed for $ 24.05, came out at $ 275.03, including taxes. But at the end of the purchase, the website obtained $ 343.26 in import positions, which raised the total to $ 628.49. (Temu offers buyers the option to buy marked products as from local warehouses that do not incur import positions).

In the rival of Temu, Shein, a cart or 10 similar items came out to $ 244.03. I thought I did not detail additional import positions in the products, the Shein’s website told buyers: “Tariffs are included in the price you pay. You will never have to pay more in delivery.”

Even so, buyers said they had seen prices for some items on the Shein website during the weekend. Just although the exemption rate is not expected to end until Friday, the charges are already appearing because the orders made now will not cross the border until later.

Lindsay Olive from Atlanta, which he buys regularly in Shein, put a series of summer dresses in his car last week, including a blue one for $ 10.88 and one floral for $ 11.29. When he went to visit this weekend, the price of the blue dress had increased to $ 13.88 and the floral had increased to $ 15.43, according to the screenshots he shared.

“I knew things were going to start uploading, and I wanted to get some summer poses before that happened,” said Mrs. Olive, 39. She exposes prices that will rise even more.

Amazon said Tuesday that he had considered detailing import positions by his site, called Amazon Haul, who competes with Temu, but decided not to do so.

“The teams discuss ideas all the time,” said spokesman Ty Rogers, in a statement. He said he was never under consultation for the main site of Amazon, adding: “This was never approved and will not happen.”

Import positions can spread on how products are sent. If they come to an express carrier as DHL or Fedex, the goods will be subject to rates as a high axis of 145 percent, or $ 14.50 with a $ 10 shirt.

Shipments that enter through the postal service will face a rate equivalent to 120 percent of the value of goods, starting Friday or a $ 100 rate per package. The rate increases to $ 200 in June.

What about paperwork?

One of the comforts of a minimism shipment is that the recipient does not have to provide a social security number to obtain the products, as is the case with other types of imports.

Instead, minimis goods require only one name and a address.

Until Friday, minimis shipments from China will be classified as “informal entry” imports. Informal entry assets, which can be worth up to $ 2,500, do not require the social security number of a recipient, it is said, customs and border protection in declaration. Even so, the agency said in January that carriers often require social security numbers because having them accelerate authorization through customs.

Fedex said that, according to the requirements of Customs and Border Protection, it would not require social security numbers in China’s shipments that lose their exemption from Minimis on Friday. DHL said he would not require social security numbers in informal entry shipments. UPS refused to say whether the Social Security number would require, but the company added that it had the experience to help its customs to “navigate global trade and follow all applicable laws and regulations.”

A postal service representative said that “he would not have a role in collection of taxes for articles or postal shipping minimism value.” Instead, tariffs would have to be collected by the carrier who brings goods to the United States.

Will there be delays?

Collect tariffs and verify a much higher number of packages could become a challenge for carriers, customs and border protection. But it is not clear white, these actions would delay the packages more than one day or two or much more.

The customs agency said in a statement that Althegh had “a great task in his hand”, was “in a unique position to implement and enforce the president’s rates.”

Ana Swanson and Madeleine NGOs Contributed reports.