Shein, Temu boost ad spending in Europe as Trump tariffs squash largest market
The race to ramp up spending last month in Europe was most significant in France and the UK, where Shein boosted its dollars 35%, and Temu raised its spending by 40% and 20%, respectively, from the month before, according to Sensor Tower data reported by Reuters.
Meanwhile, Shein's daily average spending on US platforms like Facebook and Instagram plunged about 19% from March 31 to April 13 compared to the month before, and Temu's plummeted 31%, according to the data.
Shein and Temu ramped up spending in April in Europe ahead of President Trump's tariffs, according to a report.
REUTERS
That strategy change came as the firms rushed to prepare for last Friday, when Trump ended the de minimis exemption, a trade loophole that Shein and Temu used to ship packages worth less than $800 into the duty-free.
The exemption allowed Shein and Temu to sell goods at ultra-low prices to US customers, like $5 shirts and $10 dresses, and skip the customs process for speedy deliveries.
Trump's tariffs threaten Shein and Temu's edge in selling cheap products. A $10 dress, for example, would jump to $24.50 with the full weight of the 145% tariff on China – making it much less of a deal for American customers.
Temu has already stopped shipments from China to the US, promoting only 'local' products on its US website.
Items with the 'local' badge come from US warehouses with inventory that was shipped over ahead of the taxes. But these stockpiles will eventually start to dwindle.
The Chinese fast-fashion firms slashed their digital advertising spending in the US, according to Sensor Tower.
REUTERS
As they attempt to pivot to new markets, Shein and Temu have massively hiked their ad spending in Europe compared to last year – up 45% in France and 100% in the UK for Shein, and 115% in France and 20% in the UK for Temu, according to the data.
That advertising push has already helped Shein and Temu secure more app downloads in the UK. Shein saw a 25% increase in downloads from the month before, while downloads of Temu more than doubled, according to Sensor Tower.
However, these new downloads have only brought in marginal increases in daily active users.
The firms 'probably won't be able to gain as many customers' as they had in the United States, said Kimber Maderazzo, marketing professor at Pepperdine Graziadio Business School.
With Post wires
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
29 minutes ago
- USA Today
Pentagon recalls another 1,000 National Guard troops from Los Angeles
The troops were sent to suppress protests and to protect ICE agents conducting immigration raids. The Pentagon has withdrawn more than a thousand National Guard troops sent to Los Angeles, further scaling back President Donald Trump's controversial deployment. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on July 30 recalled 1,350 California National Guardsmen assigned to protect federal buildings and personnel amid public uproar following recent Immigration and Customs Enforcement raids across the city and Southern California. The troop withdrawal comes with about a week left in what the White House described as a 60-day deployment that started on June 7. Two weeks ago the administration called back 2,000 California National Guardsmen from their assignments in Los Angeles. Troop withdrawal, phase 1: Pentagon pulls 2,000 National Guard members from Los Angeles in immigration rollback Approximately 250 troops will remain in Los Angeles to protect personnel and property, the Pentagon said. At the peak of their deployment, nearly 5,000 service members were dispatched to the region: most were National Guard troops, but Trump also sent 700 Marines to guard federal property in the city. The troops were directed to suppress protests and to protect ICE agents conducting immigration raids. Newsom: Trump's 'political theater backfired' Several California Democratic lawmakers criticized the June deployment, calling it an overreach of presidential authority, accusing Trump of inciting violence. Trump's response at the time was that "Los Angeles would be burning right now" without the military presence. California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, sued the Trump administration, alleging the deployment was unlawful. A San Francisco appeals court ruled that the troops could remain. Newsom said July 30 in a post on X that Trump's "chaotic, needless takeover of the California National Guard, his political theatrics in LA have blown up in his face." "President Trump is realizing that his political theater backfired. This militarization was always unnecessary and deeply unpopular," Newsom said in a statement. Raids and deportations has a heavy cost: Deportations are taking a toll on California's economy - and have only just begun Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass also viewed the deployment as a "political stunt" and said in a July 30 post on X the withdrawal was a "win." Bass said she would continue to pressure the administration until "ALL troops are out of L.A." Hegseth responded to Bass in an X post of his own. "You're welcome Mayor. These brave troops are redeploying because their mission was so successful. You should be thanking them for saving your city from mobs & chaos," Hegseth said. "We will continue to support law enforcement – even when you won't." The troop deployment has been estimated to cost about $134 million, according to the Pentagon.
Boston Globe
29 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Dozens of countries with no deals face higher tariffs as trade deadline looms
Advertisement Trump intends the duties to bring back manufacturing to the United States, while also forcing other countries to reduce their trade barriers to U.S. exports. Trump argues that foreign exporters will pay the cost of the tariffs, but so far economists have found that most are being paid by U.S. companies. And measures of U.S. inflation have started to tick higher as prices of imported goods, such as furniture, appliances, and toys rise. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Countries without an agreement face duties ranging between 10% and 40%, according to Trump's executive order signed on Thursday. That includes large economies such as Canada, Taiwan, and India, as well as many smaller countries like South Africa, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and even tiny Lesotho. Advertisement Will the deadline hold this time? Trump's original April 2 'Liberation Day' announcement threatened to impose import taxes of up to 50% on nearly 60 countries and economies, including the 27-nation European Union. Those duties, originally scheduled for April 9, were then postponed twice, first to July 9 and then Aug. 1. On Wednesday, Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social, 'THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE IS THE AUGUST FIRST DEADLINE — IT STANDS STRONG, AND WILL NOT BE EXTENDED.' As of Thursday afternoon, White House representatives — and Trump himself — had insisted that no more delays were possible. But when Trump signed the order Thursday night imposing new tariffs on 68 countries and the European Union, the start date of the punishing import taxes was pushed back seven days so that the tariff schedule could be updated. The change — while potentially welcome news to countries that had not yet reached a deal with the U.S. — injected a new dose of uncertainty for consumers and businesses still wondering what's going to happen and when. Which countries have a trade agreement? In a flurry of last minute deal-making, the Trump has been announcing agreements as late as Thursday, but they are largely short on details. On Thursday, the U.S. and Pakistan reached a trade agreement expected to allow Washington to help develop Pakistan's largely untapped oil reserves and lower tariffs for the South Asian country. And on Wednesday, Trump announced a deal with South Korea that would impose 15% tariffs on goods from that country. That is below the 25% duties that Trump threatened in April. Agreements have also been reached with the European Union, Pakistan, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, and the United Kingdom. The agreement with the Philippines barely reduced the tariff it will pay, from 20% to 19%. Advertisement And which countries don't? Of the 68 countries, along with the EU, that appear in Trump's executive order, the majority do not have deals. That includes Cambodia, now facing a tariff of of 19%; Algeria at 30%, Iraq at 35%; Syria at 41%, Switzerland at 39% and Taiwan at 20%. Trump had already slapped large duties on Brazil and India even before the August deadline was reached. In the case of Brazil, Trump signed an executive order late Wednesday imposing a 50% duty on imports, though he exempted several large categories, including aircraft, aluminum, and energy products. Trump is angry at Brazil's government because it is prosecuting its former president, Jair Bolsonaro, for attempting to overturn his election loss in 2022. Trump was indicted on a similar charge in 2023. While Trump has sought to justify the widespread tariffs as an effort to combat the United States' chronic trade deficits, the U.S. actually has a trade surplus with Brazil — meaning it sells more goods and services to Brazil than it buys from that country. Late Wednesday, Trump said that India would pay a 25% duty on all its exports, in part because it has continued to purchase oil from Russia. On Thursday, the White House said it had extended the deadline to reach a deal with Mexico for another 90 days, citing the complexity of the trade relationship, which is governed by the trade agreement Trump reached when he updated NAFTA in his first term. For smaller countries caught in Trump's cross hairs, the Aug. 1 deadline is particularly difficult because the White House has acknowledged they aren't able to negotiate with every country facing tariff threats. Lesotho, for example, a small country in southern Africa, was hit with a 50% duty on April 2, and even though it was postponed, the threat has already devastated its apparel industry, costing thousands of jobs. On Thursday, the country faced a 15% tariff. Advertisement 'There's 200 countries,'' the president acknowledged earlier this month. 'You can't talk to all of them.'' AP Writers Josh Boak and Wyatte Grantham-Philipps contributed to this report.
Boston Globe
29 minutes ago
- Boston Globe
Trump injects new dose of uncertainty in tariffs as he pushes start date back to Aug. 7
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up The vast tariffs risk jeopardizing America's global standing as allies feel forced into unfriendly deals. As taxes on the raw materials used by U.S. factories and basic goods, the tariffs also threaten to create new inflationary pressures and hamper economic growth — concerns the Trump White House has dismissed. Advertisement Questions swirl around the tariffs despite Trump's eagerness As the clock ticked toward Trump's self-imposed deadline, few things seemed to be settled other than the president's determination to levy the taxes he has talked about for decades. The very legality of the tariffs remains an open question as a U.S. appeals court on Thursday heard arguments on whether Trump had exceeded his authority by declaring an 'emergency' under a 1977 law to charge the tariffs, allowing him to avoid congressional approval. Advertisement Trump was ebullient as much of the world awaited what he would do. 'Tariffs are making America GREAT & RICH Again,' he said Thursday morning on Truth Social. Others saw a policy carelessly constructed by the U.S. president, one that could impose harms gradually over time that would erode America's power and prosperity. 'The only things we'll know for sure on Friday morning are that growth-sapping U.S. import taxes will be historically high and complex, and that, because these deals are so vague and unfinished, policy uncertainty will remain very elevated,' said Scott Lincicome, a vice president of economics at the Cato Institute. 'The rest is very much TBD.' The new tariffs build off ones announced in the spring Trump initially imposed the Friday deadline after his previous 'Liberation Day' tariffs in April resulted in a stock market panic. His unusually high tariff rates unveiled then led to recession fears, prompting Trump to impose a 90-day negotiating period. When he was unable to create enough trade deals with other countries, he extended the timeline and sent out letters to world leaders that simply listed rates, prompting a slew of hasty agreements. Swiss imports will now be taxed at a higher rate — 39% — than the 31% Trump threatened in April, while Liechtenstein saw its rate slashed from 37% to 15%. Countries not listed in the Thursday night order would be charged a baseline 10% tariff. Trump negotiated trade frameworks over the past few weeks with the EU, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines — allowing the president to claim victories as other nations sought to limit his threat of charging even higher tariff rates. He said on Thursday there were agreements with other countries, but he declined to name them. Advertisement Thursday began with a palpable sense of tension The EU was awaiting a written agreement on its 15% tariff deal. Switzerland and Norway were among the dozens of countries that did not know what their tariff rate would be, while Trump agreed after a Thursday morning phone call to keep Mexico's tariffs at 25% for a 90-day negotiating period. The president separately on Thursday amended an order to raise Canada's fentanyl-related tariffs to 35%. European leaders face blowback for seeming to cave to Trump, even as they insist that this is merely the start of talks and stress the importance of maintaining America's support of Ukraine's fight against Russia. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney has already indicated that his country can no longer rely on the U.S. as an ally, and Trump declined to talk to him on Thursday. India, with its 25% tariff announced Wednesday by Trump, may no longer benefit as much from efforts to pivot manufacturing out of China. While the Trump administration has sought to challenge China's manufacturing dominance, it is separately in extended trade talks with that country, which faces a 30% tariff and is charging a 10% retaliatory rate on the U.S. Major companies came into the week warning that tariffs would begin to squeeze them financially. Ford Motor Co. said it anticipated a net $2 billion hit to earnings this year from tariffs. French skincare company Yon-Ka is warning of job freezes, scaled-back investment and rising prices. It's unclear whether Trump's new tariffs will survive a legal challenge Federal judges sounded skeptical Thursday about Trump's use of a 1977 law to declare the long-standing U.S. trade deficit a national emergency that justifies tariffs on almost every country on Earth. Advertisement 'You're asking for an unbounded authority,' Judge Todd Hughes of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit told a Justice Department lawyer representing the administration. The judges didn't immediately rule, and the case is expected to eventually reach the Supreme Court. The Trump White House has pointed to the increase in federal revenues as a sign that the tariffs will reduce the budget deficit, with $127 billion in customs and duties collected so far this year — about $70 billion more than last year. New tariffs threaten to raise inflation rates There are not yet signs that tariffs will lead to more domestic manufacturing jobs, and the U.S. economy now has 14,000 fewer manufacturing jobs than it did in April. On Thursday, one crucial measure of inflation, known as the Personal Consumption Expenditures index, showed that prices have climbed 2.6% over the 12 months that ended in June, a sign that inflation may be accelerating as the tariffs flow through the economy. The prospect of higher inflation from the tariffs has caused the Federal Reserve to hold off on additional cuts to its benchmark rates, a point of frustration for Trump, who on Truth Social, called Fed Chair Jerome Powell a 'TOTAL LOSER.' But ahead of Trump's tariffs, Powell seemed to suggest that the tariffs had put the U.S. economy and much of the world into a state of unknowns. 'There are many uncertainties left to resolve,' Powell told reporters Wednesday. 'So, yes, we are learning more and more. It doesn't feel like we're very close to the end of that process. And that's not for us to judge, but it does — it feels like there's much more to come.' Advertisement AP writer Paul Wiseman contributed to this report.
