Temu adapts US business model to Trump tariffs by embracing local sellers

The shopping site is shifting its US business to a ‘local fulfilment model’, as tariff exemptions for low-value Chinese goods come to an end

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Temu has changed its US business model in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Photo: AFP

Published: 3:03pm, 2 May 2025Updated: 8:40pm, 2 May 2025

Temu, the shopping platform owned by Chinese e-commerce giant PDD Holdings, has revised its business model in the US in response to “retaliatory” tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on Chinese imports and the end of the “de minimis” duty exemption policy.

The platform, which has rapidly gained popularity in the US, offers direct access to made-in-China products and markets itself as a bargain marketplace, allowing customers to “shop like a billionaire”.

Temu said on Friday that it shifted its US operations to a “local fulfilment model”, meaning all sales to American customers “are now handled by locally-based sellers, with orders fulfilled from within the country”.

“Temu has been actively recruiting US sellers to join the platform,” the company said, adding that the operational change would not affect pricing for US consumers.

Packages for Temu are seen at a clothing factory in Guangzhou, southern China. Photo: AFP

The shift comes amid speculation that Temu, which lists its principal office as based in Boston, may phase out China-based merchants, requiring them to establish operations in the US or stop selling to American shoppers.