Amazon may have walked back plans to display import costs at the digital checkout to consumers — but Chinese company Temu initially went the opposite way.
After President Donald Trump whacked China with import tariffs up to 145%, Temu began making the added import tax visible to all customers at checkout for products shipped from China — with the cost of shipping, sales tax, and import charges itemized and added to the subtotal, according to an NYNext secret shopper’s screen grabs.
The inflammatory move — Amazon’s similar plan was dropped after swift political blowback — was likely the doing of the ruling Chinese Communist Party, designed to undermine the US and Trump, according to sources.
Chinese President Xi Jinping pictured on April 17. His communist government keeps tight control over what private enterprises from his country, such as Temu, are allowed to do and what to publicize. AP
Temu is showing customers the cost of imports at the checkout process. REUTERS“There is very little separation between private companies and the state in China. That is one thing that makes them such a formidable competitor: No space between Chinese government and Chinese enterprise,” former senior intelligence officer and CEO of XK Group Business Intelligence Kevin Hulbert told me.
Jeff Bezos got a call from President Trump when Amazon — which he founded but no longer runs day-to-day — floated the idea of displaying the cost of tariffs to consumers. Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP
This story is part of NYNext, an indispensable insider insight into the innovations, moonshots and political chess moves that matter most to NYC’s power players (and those who aspire to be).
A Temu employee packing garments to be sent overseas at a warehouse in Guangzhou, China. AFP via Getty ImagesHowever, Temu then changed tactics and stopped shipping good from China direct to US consumers.
By Friday all items available on the site were stored in and shipped from US warehouses.
Temu was initially able to offer its goods so cheaply by exploiting the US “de minimis” rule, which allows shipments valued at under $800 enter the country duty-free.
From Friday, the de minimis exemption — which Trump labeled a “big scam” earlier this week — was eliminated on all goods posted from mainland China.
A Temu spokesperson says the company is also transitioning to a local fulfillment model and has been actively recruiting US sellers to join its platform.
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