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US internet traffic to Temu saw a sharp decline after the Trump administration terminated a loophole that helped the Chinese e-commerce company import cheap products.
Traffic-monitoring company Similarweb recorded a drop for Temu’s website and mobile app. In April, the site’s US web traffic plummeted from around 13 million visits to 3 million. The daily active count for Temu’s mobile app in the US also dropped from over 15 million to under 10 million during the April to June period.
(Credit: Similarweb)
(Credit: Similarweb)
The decline comes after Trump ended the “de minimis” exemption for Chinese imports, which let retailers like Temu, Shein, and AliExpress ship packages under $800 without incurring any import fees. The US is now requiring low-cost imports from the country to pay a 54% tariff.
Ironically, Temu did see a surge in web traffic—nearly 15 million visits per day—before and after Trump’s initial efforts in February to axe the de minimis tax exemption for imports from China and Hong Kong. He later backtracked before formally implementing the change in May. More recently, the White House decided to end the loophole for all countries, effective Aug. 29.
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Still, consumer interest in Temu has rebounded in recent weeks, “after the initial shock of the tariffs, although they’re not back to quite the same traffic or app usage,” Similarweb told PCMag. “As the tariff rules change, and they raise prices, we may see another decline in the coming weeks—but not yet.”
In May, Temu said it would spend billions to help merchants in China shoulder the tariff costs.
What Is Temu? Watch Before You ‘Shop Like a Billionaire
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About Michael Kan
Senior Reporter
