Business | Parcel out

Shein and Temu are in Donald Trump’s cross-hairs

An end to the de minimis exemption will hurt Chinese e-commerce firms—and enrage American consumers

A clothing workshop in Nancun that supplies Shein.
Photograph: Panos Pictures
|Shanghai

For American consumers, online shopping has just got dearer. On February 1st Donald Trump did away with a decades-old provision, known as the de minimis waiver, that exempted goods under a certain value (lately $800) from customs duties. With the same stroke he raised tariffs on Chinese goods by 10%. Then on February 5th the United States Postal Service announced that it had temporarily suspended inbound parcels from China and Hong Kong, before abruptly reversing, causing all manner of confusion.

Explore more

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline “Parcel out”

Business

February 8th 2025

From the February 8th 2025 edition

Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents

⇒Explore the edition
Reuse this content

How Trump’s tariffs could crush American carmakers

They must hope the levies do not endure

A squirel in a suit sitting at a desk in front of a computer

The Economist’s office agony uncle is back

Another bulging postbag for Max Flannel

The illustration depicts a surreal figure with a head resembling the Belgian flag, balancing a cityscape on a tray in one hand and holding a car in the other. The figure's body is dressed like a performer, and two smoking exhaust pipes protrude from the ba

The smiling new face of German big business

From Allianz to Zalando, pedlars of services are outdoing industrial firms at home—and foreign rivals abroad

Airbus has not taken full advantage of Boeing’s weakness

That could leave a gap for other planemakers to fill

The business of second-hand clothing is booming

Can it be profitable, too?

Zyn is giving investors a buzz—for now

Nicotine pouches are growing fast