Shein, Temu Must Be Probed Over Safety of Baby Products: US Consumer Safety Commissioners

A Shein pop-up store at a mall in Singapore, on April 4, 2024. Edgar Su/Reuters

Commissioners from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) called on the agency to investigate foreign e-commerce giants Shein and Temu for potentially selling products that put children at risk, as well as their practice of shipping cheap products into the U.S. on a large scale.

Shein is headquartered in Singapore while Temu, with headquarters in Boston, is owned by a Chinese firm PDD Holdings. “Manufacturers, retailers, importers, and distributors of consumer products all fall within the jurisdiction of CPSC, which is charged with protecting consumers from items that pose an unreasonable risk of injury,” Commissioners Peter A. Feldman and Douglas Dziak, said in a Sept. 3 statement.

“We are aware of recent media reports that deadly baby and toddler products are easy to find” on Shein and Temu, the commissioners said, citing an April report from business and technology website The Information.

In 2021, over 2,300 units of Shein-branded sleepwear sets for children were recalled for violating federal flammability standards and burn hazards. In another incident, Temu recalled over 45,000 units of children’s pajama sets in July this year due to similar issues.

“We are also aware of reporting that ‘thousands of Chinese factories and vendors have joined the supply chain for Shein and Temu, whose popularity has exploded in the U.S. with their offers of inexpensive made-in-China goods, from T-shirts and handbags to electronics and kitchen items,’” the statement noted, citing a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Temu and Shein are ranked number one and two respectively among free shopping apps in Apple’s app store in the United States, with Amazon in third place.

The commissioners said they want to better understand Temu and Shein, specifically their focus on shipping low-value direct-to-consumer products.

The de minimis rule in the United States allows parcels valued lower than $800 that are shipped directly to shoppers to be exempt from duties and taxes. There are concerns that low-cost suppliers from China are abusing this provision to dominate certain U.S. markets, posing threats to domestic industries.

The commissioners called for CPSC staff to look at the safety and compliance controls implemented on both platforms, their relations with consumers and third-party sellers, and the representations they make on imported products.

“Third-party sellers, domestic and foreign, are proliferating on online platforms. This form of commerce can benefit consumers and sellers in many ways, but CPSC must make clear its expectations regarding these platforms’ responsibilities to ensure safety,” the statement said.

A Temu spokesperson defended the company’s actions in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times, pointing out that the platform requires all sellers to comply with applicable laws and regulations of the country, including those related to product safety.

“Our interests are aligned with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in ensuring consumer protection and product safety, and we will cooperate fully with any investigation,” the spokesperson stated.

A Shein spokesperson told The Epoch Times that customer safety is their top priority and that the firm is investing millions of dollars to strengthen its compliance programs.

Earlier this year, Shein said it would invest $50 million into compliance programs to ensure adherence to product safety standards, local laws, and regulations.

Issues With Shein and Temu

Multiple other groups have published reports that criticize the lax product safety standards at platforms like Shein and Temu as well as the negative impacts these companies have on American businesses.

A 2022 report from Greenpeace detailed tests of 47 Shein products from Europe. The tests found that seven of them contained hazardous chemicals at levels violating European Union limits. Five of these items exceeded the limits by 100 percent or more. The items tested included garments and footwear for men, women, infants, and children.

In April last year, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission published a report detailing various issues related to Shein and Temu, including evasion of tariffs under the de minimis provision.

“Chinese e-commerce’s growth in the United States has been aided by exploitation of favorable import regulations, especially the high de minimis threshold for U.S. customs inspection and tariffs,” it said. “In the United States, this threshold was raised from $200 to $800 in 2016. By contrast, it is roughly $7 (renminbi [RMB] 50)” in China.

“A sizeable majority of de minimis packages, which increased from 410.5 million packages in fiscal year (FY) 2018 to 685.1 million packages in FY 2022, came from China,” the report added.

The report also raised concerns about forced labor involved in supply chains of products sold via Chinese e-commerce platforms.

Shein’s sourcing of cotton appears “to be in direct violation of the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA),” it noted. The law prohibits the use of cotton from the Xinjiang region.

In June 2023, Congress’ Select Committee on the CCP issued a report accusing Shein and Temu of exploiting the de minimis rule. Both platforms likely make up more than 30 percent of all packages entering the United States under the de minimis provision, it stated.

Temu conducts “no audits and reports no compliance system to affirmatively examine and ensure compliance with the UFLPA,” it noted.

Reuters contributed to this report.