Will My Temu Order Arrive With All of the Trump-China Tariff Discuss?

• Donald Trump’s govt orders might cease low-cost provide for e-commerce orders direct from China.
• Which can be dangerous information for Temu and Shein.
• A really highly effective query: What is going on to occur to the $2.74 mousepad I ordered from Temu final week?!

A number of days beforehand, I seen I needed a mannequin new mousepad. The material masking was beginning to peel away from the rubber. So I went to Temu — further on that in a minute.

Mousepads are a few of these factors that — in thought — that you could in no way purchase; they solely come into your life, like low-cost umbrellas or Mason jars.

Nonetheless on account of a really very long time of repetitive movement from typing, my weary wrists want the type of mousepad with the ergonomic padded blob on the tip, not the plain flat ones you accumulate with out cost.

So, spend my very private cash I’ve to.

Now, I’ve conflicted emotions about purchasing for on Temu, nonetheless a mousepad is type of an incredible Temu merchandise: Fine quality would not really matter, and a $3 one is comparable as a $10 one — not less than to the human eye. As a price-sensitive shopper, I went for it.

I discovered a plain grey mousepad with a wrist relaxation on Temu for $2.74 and ordered it.

Appropriately, it wasn’t fairly that straightforward — Temu requires a $15 minimal for an order to ship, so I threw in a number of completely completely different objects: a squishy elbow relaxation, a mannequin new cellphone case, some hair scrunchies.

Then catastrophe struck. Shortly after I positioned my order, President Donald Trump declared an finish to the “de minimis” exemption. There’s nonetheless some dialogue as to precisely what his govt order will recommend, nonetheless de minimis permits orders beneath $800 to ship immediately from China to US prospects with out encountering duties and taxes. It is a big a part of how Temu and Shein have operated all through the US so successfully.

Then factors went apocalyptic for my mousepad: On Tuesday night time time, the US Postal Service stopped taking inbound parcels from China. By Wednesday morning, the USPS had reversed that call, resuming service.

What all of this implies for Temu and related sellers like Shein simply is not precisely clear, nonetheless let’s merely assume it is not good. (Temu did not reply to a request for remark.)

Nonetheless, each e-commerce platforms have superior earlier provide solely immediately from mainland China, and now a great deal of their sellers have warehouses all through the US to ship orders domestically.

On Temu’s homepage, the perfect promoted half was for “native warehouse retailers” — sellers provide from warehouses all through the US.

Shein’s web site on-line had a so much a lot much less distinguished tab for “QuickShip” objects that ship from the US, which wasn’t seen in the slightest degree on its cell app.

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Whereas relations with one amongst our largest commerce companions are up all through the air, I’ve good particulars about my mousepad (which I am constructive you’ve got gotten been fearful about).

My Temu order seems to be nonetheless shifting alongside in processing to be shipped.