Temu Restarts China-to-US Shipments After Tariff Truce
Temu reportedly restarted shipping products from China to consumers in the United States after a tariff-related truce.
Suppliers, partners and investors said the eCommerce platform resumed making “fully-managed” shipments, the Financial Times reported Tuesday (Aug. 26).
Those shipments are ones in which Temu takes care of most of the logistics and customs formalities on behalf of suppliers. The company relaunched them last month after pausing the service in May, according to the report.
The company also increased its advertising budget in the U.S. after trimming ad spending during the trade war, the report said, citing unnamed sources and data analytics provider Smarter Ecommerce.
Temu anticipated ad spend to go back to first-quarter levels, before President Donald Trump unveiled the tariffs, per the report. These changes underscore the way a truce between China and the U.S. has offered a reprieve to low-value goods exporters.
Trump announced plans in April to end the “de minimis” exemptions for shipments worth less than $800 from China, meaning they would be subject to duties of more than 100%. That was bad news for Temu, which has thrived in part by being able to bring billions of dollars in lower-cost merchandise into the U.S. tax-free.
Since then, however, negotiations between Washington and Beijing led the U.S. to reduce the rate on small packages to 54%, while agreeing to lower extra tariffs on Chinese goods to 30% for 90 days. Both countries recently extended the truce for another 90 days, the report said.
The news came one day after Temu parent company, PDD Holdings, reported earnings showing its revenue growing but its operating profit falling in the second quarter, with management saying the company is investing in “long-term impact.”
PDD Holdings’ revenue rose 7% year over year during the quarter to reach about 104 billion yuan (about $14.5 billion), while the company’s operating profit fell by 21% year over year.
The PYMNTS Intelligence report “Small Business Growth Monitor Q2 2025: From Headwinds to Hope on Main Street” found that 38% of micro small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) said they were being directly impacted by rising costs connected to imports, compared to 30% of larger peers.
“These firms often lack the bargaining power or scale to absorb price increases,” PYMNTS wrote Monday (Aug. 25). “For some, the ripple effects show up as cash flow challenges and delayed payments, which 18% of micro-SMBs reported.”
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