US customers from Temu and Shein feel forced to buy

US customers from Temu and Shein feel forced to buy

Rena Scott, a retired nurse from Virginia, usually has between 10 and 12 active orders from Temu, the popular Chinese online platform. The 64-year-old bought almost everything you can imagine. At the moment she has four shirts in the shopping cart and regularly buys craft materials such as wool and pearls. Your wool collection is so large that she has set up a room for her wool, and she has already ordered 53 packages of a certain type of wool. For Scott, shopping on the platform in the category "No brainstorming is required".

cheap products and rising prices

"Everything here comes from abroad anyway, so you simply cut out the middleman, such as Walmart and Amazon," she says. Millions of Americans have been due to the low prices for

But the customs war under President Donald Trump now affects those who rely on these comparatively cheap Chinese products. He imposed punitive tariffs of 145 % on imports from China and a minimum tax of 10 % to all other countries. In addition, the "de Minimis" exemption that allowed was worth importing to the USA worth less than $ 800 to the USA. On Friday, Temu and Shein The prices for a large number of articles to baths Customs that come into force this week.

consequences for low -income households

For American consumers, this means that even the "cheap products" that they have lured to Temu and Shein are no longer affordable. "I can't afford anything at Temu anymore, and I couldn't even afford to buy here in the country," says Scott. The pensioner, who lives alone, states that she lives sparingly and receives a decent pension after a transplant that made her unable to work. She has not eaten Fast food for a year because she "just can't afford" it. Her car, which she bought in 2005, continues to drive and keep the air conditioning at 30 degrees to avoid high electricity costs.

A closet that she bought from Temu for $ 56 - before the price increase - now costs over $ 80, which she describes as "not sustainable". Households with low incomes will suffer most from the end of the cheap Chinese e-commerce platforms. According to a study by the UCLA and the Yale economists, almost half of the De Minimis packages were sent to the poorest postcodes in the USA, while only 22 % went to the richest areas. In addition, the lowest -income households in America in 2021 spent more than the triple of their income for clothing, compared to the wealthiest households, according to a report by the business company Trade Partnership Worldwide.

The buyers coincide

Phillip Dampier, a 57-year-old consumer right to spend about eight hours on Chinese e-commerce sites in the past two weeks every day. Its purchases include paper products, kitchen utensils, a portable fan, furniture, bed linen and blankets - "Basically Everything You Might Find in A Jcpenney."

he plans to stock up for the next two years, because he has the feeling that the economy is about to collapse and that there will be bottlenecks like during pandemic. Dampier, who lives in Rochester, New York, used to be a loyal Amazon customer. The prices on Amazon have increased since the pandemic and customer service has decreased. His first purchase at Temu in 2023 meant that he also bought from Aliexpress, Shein and even Taobao, China's oldest e-commerce page. Amazon has currently refrained from the obvious advertising for the same model as Shein and Temu.

questionable practices and environmental impacts

Shein, Temu and Aliexpress stand because of their defective Product reliability and Working conditions in criticism, as well as because of the harmful effects on the environment. These pages also promote a culture of oversure. Customers are hypnotized by an endless algorithm with colorful pictures and discount games, but the products often end up as cheap garbage at the landfill.

Scott, the former nurse from Virginia, notes that the purchase of goods produced in America does not leave much more options. "No matter whether I go to my local walmart and buy there ... This product was nevertheless produced in another country where terrible wages are paid, possibly also child labor," she says. Even if she finds something that was made in the USA, "it is priceless". Dampier also emphasizes that people in American shops such as TJ Maxx and Ross can also buy excessively. "It is somehow biased to say that this is only a problem with Temu and Shein just because the prices are a little lower," he adds.

Nevertheless, the Trump administration claims that the tariffs are intended to put American production and companies in the foreground. But US consumers who were asked by CNN expressed skepticism that the tariffs will actually work-and at the moment they are wearing the entire cost load. "The whole idea of tariffs is idiotic, in my opinion," says Dampier. The Trump administration "tries to intimidate everyone, and that's wrong, and customs policy is wrong."