Recent tariff orders have reversed the “de minimis” exemption, a long-standing shipping exemption that allowed for low prices and fast shipping. A change which, according to CNN, will likely raise costs for the two retailers’ U.S. consumers. In addition, the new administration is considering whether to add both low-priced Chinese companies to the Department of Homeland Security’s forced labor list reports Semafor. 

New members on the forced labor list? 

In 2021, as part of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act, the U.S. Congress established the forced labor list. The list singles out companies that use forced labor to mine, produce, or manufacture goods in China’s Uyghur region. Consequently, goods on this list are prohibited from importation into the United States.   

Semafor reports Greta Peisch, a former general counsel for the U.S. trade representative under the Biden administration said: 

“It would be a pretty bold move, to add the fast-fashion companies to the list. Alongside the ending of the shipping exemption, it would show the Trump administration is really targeting consumer goods.”  

Correspondingly, a 2023 bipartisan investigation found that Temu was probably shipping goods made with forced labor into the U.S. on a “regular basis,”. Shein’s use of the “de minimis exception” was also criticized. Following, Congress said in the findings that it had “serious forced labor concerns” about both retailers. Sources for the article noted that no final decision on the matter has been made.  

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