International on-line buying platform Temu.
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Two members of the U.S. Client Product Security Fee are urging the company to research the protection practices of “foreign-owned” e-commerce platforms like Shein and Temu, particularly the alleged sale of “lethal child and toddler merchandise” .
In a letter late Tuesday, CPSC Commissioners Peter Feldman and Douglas Dziak stated the company ought to examine Temu and Shein’s security and compliance controls, relationships with third-party sellers and shoppers and “any representations they make when merchandise are imported.”
“We search to raised perceive these corporations, notably their concentrate on low-value direct-to-consumer (additionally referred to as de minimis) shipments and the enforcement challenges when corporations with little or no U.S. presence distribute client merchandise via these platforms,” the commissioners stated. wrote.
Final month, The Data reported that Temu was providing padded crib bumpers, that are banned within the US resulting from choking hazards, whereas Shein is promoting kids’s hoodies with drawstrings that regulators say pose a security threat.
A spokesperson for Shein stated in an announcement that buyer security is a prime precedence and the corporate is investing hundreds of thousands of {dollars} to strengthen its compliance packages, together with working with testing businesses to enhance its product security practices.
A Temu consultant stated in an announcement that it requires all sellers on its web site to adjust to legal guidelines and rules, together with these associated to product security.
“Our pursuits are aligned with the U.S. Client Product Security Fee (CPSC) in guaranteeing client safety and product security, and we’ll totally cooperate with any investigation,” the Temu spokesperson stated.
Low cost retailers Temu and Shein have exploded in reputation within the US by conducting an internet advertising blitz and providing shoppers low-cost items from China, whether or not it is a $3 pair of sneakers or a $15 smartwatch.
Shein launched within the US in 2017 and lately flooded Google and Fb with advertisements to gasoline its enlargement. Its worth is reportedly estimated at $66 billion. Temu, owned by PDD Holdings, debuted within the US in 2022 and rapidly poured billions of {dollars} into advertising, most prominently via the “Store Like a Billionaire” TV spot that ran throughout this 12 months’s Tremendous Bowl. Its rise has caught the eye of main e-commerce gamers, together with Amazon, which has tried to launch a competing low cost retailer, CNBC beforehand reported.
Shein and Temu leverage their relationships with small producers and suppliers in China to ship items immediately from China to the US. A lot of their progress, in accordance with some business consultants, is the results of a commerce loophole often known as the de minimis exemption, which permits packages shipped from China value lower than $800 to cross via tax-free to enter the US.
CPSC officers have requested extra funding to rent staffers to watch rising e-commerce platforms resembling Temu and Shein for safety practices, in accordance with The Data.
Lawmakers are additionally preserving a detailed eye on the platforms. Final April, a congressional committee launched a report detailing points with Shein, Temu and different “Chinese language ‘quick vogue’ platforms.” They alleged that the websites posed quite a few product security dangers, have been linked to the usage of pressured labor and exploited commerce loopholes. , amongst different considerations.
