Latest news with #Walmarts
Yahoo
01-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Temu and Shein customers in the US are reeling, but they say they have no other choice
Rena Scott, a retired registered nurse in Virginia, usually has 10 to 12 active Temu orders at any given time. The 64-year-old has bought almost anything you can think of from the Chinese website. She has four shirts in her cart right now and regularly buys crafting items like yarn and beads (she has an entire yarn room and ordered 53 packages of a particular yarn she liked), and household items from rugs to furniture. For Scott, doing all of her shopping on the site is a 'no-brainer.' 'Everything here has come in from overseas anyway, so you're just cutting out the middle man, like the Walmarts, the Amazons,' she said. Millions of Americans have flocked to Temu and Shein, another Chinese e-commerce site, for their low costs. Chinese exports of low-value packages skyrocketed from $5.3 billion in 2018 to $66 billion in 2023, according to a congressional report. But President Donald Trump's tit-for-tat trade war is now impacting those who rely on these relatively cheap Chinese products. He slapped 145% tariffs on imports from China and a 10% minimum tax on all other countries. And the 'de minimis' exemption, which allowed goods less than $800 to pour in duty-free to the United States, is expiring on May 2. On Friday, Temu and Shein raised their prices on a large number of items, from lawn chairs to swimsuits, ahead of new tariffs set to take effect this week. For American consumers, this means even the 'cheap products' that drove them to shop on Temu and Shein are no longer in reach. 'I can't afford to buy from Temu now, and I already couldn't afford to buy in this country,' Scott said. Scott, who lives by herself, says she's frugal and gets decent disability pay after a transplant left her unable to work. She hasn't eaten fast food in a year because she 'simply can't afford it.' She's driving the same car she bought in cash in 2005 and keeps the central AC at 85 degrees to avoid high electricity costs. A Temu cabinet Scott had bought for $56 — before the price increase — is now over $80, she said, which is 'not sustainable.' Lower-income households will suffer the most from the end of cheap Chinese e-commerce sites. About 48% of de minimis packages shipped to the poorest zip codes in the United States, while 22% were delivered to the richest ones, according to February research from UCLA and Yale economists. And the lowest-income households in America spent more than triple their share of income on apparel compared to the wealthiest households in 2021, according to a report by the Trade Partnership Worldwide, an economic research firm, analyzing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Phillip Dampier, a 57-year-old consumer rights writer, said he's been on Chinese e-commerce sites for about eight hours a day for the past two weeks. He's buying everything including paper products, kitchen tools, a portable heater, furniture, sheets and blankets — 'basically anything you might find in a JCPenney.' He said he's stocking up for the next two years, 'because I have a feeling that this economy is about to go into the tank, and we're going to have shortages that rivaled the pandemic.' Dempier, who lives in Rochester, New York, had been a longtime Amazon customer. Since the pandemic, he said that the Jeff Bezos-owned site had gotten more expensive and fell off its customer service. Then he made his first Temu purchase in 2023, and from there, he began shopping at AliExpress, Shein and even TaoBao, China's OG e-commerce site. For now, Amazon has walked back from publicly advertising the same model as Shein and Temu. After Amazon considered displaying the added cost of tariffs on certain items, Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to complain on Tuesday morning, two senior White House officials told CNN. An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that the move 'was never a consideration for the main Amazon site.' The president later said that was a 'good call.' Shein, Temu and AliExpress have come under heavy criticism for their lack of product safety and labor protections, as well as their detrimental impact on the environment. These sites also encourage a culture of overconsumption. Customers are hypnotized by an endless algorithm of bright colors and coupon-earning games, but the products often end up in landfills as cheap junk. But Scott, the former nurse in Virginia, said buying American-made goods isn't much of an option. 'Whether I go to my local Walmart and buy it… that product was still manufactured overseas in some country where they pay horrible wages, maybe use child labor,' Scott said. Even if she finds something made in the US, 'it's wicked expensive.' As for overconsumption, Dampier added that people can over-shop at American stores like TJ Maxx and Ross, too. 'It's kind of biased to just claim that that's an issue with Temu and Shein, just because the prices are a little lower,' he said. Still, the Trump administration maintains the tit-for-tat tariffs are designed to put American manufacturing and businesses first. But US consumers interviewed by CNN have expressed skepticism that the tariffs will work — and for now, they're left bearing the cost. 'The entire idea of tariffs is idiotic, in my opinion,' Dampier said. The Trump administration 'is trying to bully everybody, and it's wrong, and the tariff policy is wrong.' CNN's Elisabeth Buchwald, Nathaniel Meyersohn, Alayna Treene, Betsy Klein and Jordan Valinsky, contributed to this report. Sign in to access your portfolio
CNN
30-04-2025
- Business
- CNN
Temu and Shein customers in the US are reeling from tariff implementation
Rena Scott, a retired registered nurse in Virginia, usually has 10 to 12 active Temu orders at any given time. The 64-year-old has bought almost anything you can think of from the Chinese website. She has four shirts in her cart right now and regularly buys crafting items like yarn and beads (she has an entire yarn room and ordered 53 packages of a particular yarn she liked), and household items from rugs to furniture. For Scott, doing all of her shopping on the site is a 'no-brainer.' 'Everything here has come in from overseas anyway, so you're just cutting out the middle man, like the Walmarts, the Amazons,' she said. Millions of Americans have flocked to Temu and Shein, another Chinese e-commerce site, for their low costs. Chinese exports of low-value packages skyrocketed from $5.3 billion in 2018 to $66 billion in 2023, according to a congressional report. But President Donald Trump's tit-for-tat trade war is now impacting those who rely on these relatively cheap Chinese products. He slapped 145% tariffs on imports from China and a 10% minimum tax on all other countries. And the 'de minimis' exemption, which allowed goods less than $800 to pour in duty-free to the United States, is expiring on May 2. On Friday, Temu and Shein raised their prices on a large number of items, from lawn chairs to swimsuits, ahead of new tariffs set to take effect this week. For American consumers, this means even the 'cheap products' that drove them to shop on Temu and Shein are no longer in reach. 'I can't afford to buy from Temu now, and I already couldn't afford to buy in this country,' Scott said. Scott, who lives by herself, says she's frugal and gets decent disability pay after a transplant left her unable to work. She hasn't eaten fast food in a year because she 'simply can't afford it.' She's driving the same car she bought in cash in 2005 and keeps the central AC at 85 degrees to avoid high electricity costs. A Temu cabinet Scott had bought for $56 — before the price increase — is now over $80, she said, which is 'not sustainable.' Lower-income households will suffer the most from the end of cheap Chinese e-commerce sites. About 48% of de minimis packages shipped to the poorest zip codes in the United States, while 22% were delivered to the richest ones, according to February research from UCLA and Yale economists. And the lowest-income households in America spent more than triple their share of income on apparel compared to the wealthiest households in 2021, according to a report by the Trade Partnership Worldwide, an economic research firm, analyzing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Phillip Dampier, a 57-year-old consumer rights writer, said he's been on Chinese e-commerce sites for about eight hours a day for the past two weeks. He's buying everything including paper products, kitchen tools, a portable heater, furniture, sheets and blankets — 'basically anything you might find in a JCPenney.' He said he's stocking up for the next two years, 'because I have a feeling that this economy is about to go into the tank, and we're going to have shortages that rivaled the pandemic.' Dempier, who lives in Rochester, New York, had been a longtime Amazon customer. Since the pandemic, he said that the Jeff Bezos-owned site had gotten more expensive and fell off its customer service. Then he made his first Temu purchase in 2023, and from there, he began shopping at AliExpress, Shein and even TaoBao, China's OG e-commerce site. For now, Amazon has walked back from publicly advertising the same model as Shein and Temu. After Amazon considered displaying the added cost of tariffs on certain items, Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to complain on Tuesday morning, two senior White House officials told CNN. An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that the move 'was never a consideration for the main Amazon site.' The president later said that was a 'good call.' Shein, Temu and AliExpress have come under heavy criticism for their lack of product safety and labor protections, as well as their detrimental impact on the environment. These sites also encourage a culture of overconsumption. Customers are hypnotized by an endless algorithm of bright colors and coupon-earning games, but the products often end up in landfills as cheap junk. But Scott, the former nurse in Virginia, said buying American-made goods isn't much of an option. 'Whether I go to my local Walmart and buy it… that product was still manufactured overseas in some country where they pay horrible wages, maybe use child labor,' Scott said. Even if she finds something made in the US, 'it's wicked expensive.' As for overconsumption, Dampier added that people can over-shop at American stores like TJ Maxx and Ross, too. 'It's kind of biased to just claim that that's an issue with Temu and Shein, just because the prices are a little lower,' he said. Still, the Trump administration maintains the tit-for-tat tariffs are designed to put American manufacturing and businesses first. But US consumers interviewed by CNN have expressed skepticism that the tariffs will work — and for now, they're left bearing the cost. 'The entire idea of tariffs is idiotic, in my opinion,' Dampier said. The Trump administration 'is trying to bully everybody, and it's wrong, and the tariff policy is wrong.' CNN's Elisabeth Buchwald, Nathaniel Meyersohn, Alayna Treene, Betsy Klein and Jordan Valinsky, contributed to this report.
CNN
30-04-2025
- Business
- CNN
Temu and Shein customers in the US are reeling from tariff implementation
Rena Scott, a retired registered nurse in Virginia, usually has 10 to 12 active Temu orders at any given time. The 64-year-old has bought almost anything you can think of from the Chinese website. She has four shirts in her cart right now and regularly buys crafting items like yarn and beads (she has an entire yarn room and ordered 53 packages of a particular yarn she liked), and household items from rugs to furniture. For Scott, doing all of her shopping on the site is a 'no-brainer.' 'Everything here has come in from overseas anyway, so you're just cutting out the middle man, like the Walmarts, the Amazons,' she said. Millions of Americans have flocked to Temu and Shein, another Chinese e-commerce site, for their low costs. Chinese exports of low-value packages skyrocketed from $5.3 billion in 2018 to $66 billion in 2023, according to a congressional report. But President Donald Trump's tit-for-tat trade war is now impacting those who rely on these relatively cheap Chinese products. He slapped 145% tariffs on imports from China and a 10% minimum tax on all other countries. And the 'de minimis' exemption, which allowed goods less than $800 to pour in duty-free to the United States, is expiring on May 2. On Friday, Temu and Shein raised their prices on a large number of items, from lawn chairs to swimsuits, ahead of new tariffs set to take effect this week. For American consumers, this means even the 'cheap products' that drove them to shop on Temu and Shein are no longer in reach. 'I can't afford to buy from Temu now, and I already couldn't afford to buy in this country,' Scott said. Scott, who lives by herself, says she's frugal and gets decent disability pay after a transplant left her unable to work. She hasn't eaten fast food in a year because she 'simply can't afford it.' She's driving the same car she bought in cash in 2005 and keeps the central AC at 85 degrees to avoid high electricity costs. A Temu cabinet Scott had bought for $56 — before the price increase — is now over $80, she said, which is 'not sustainable.' Lower-income households will suffer the most from the end of cheap Chinese e-commerce sites. About 48% of de minimis packages shipped to the poorest zip codes in the United States, while 22% were delivered to the richest ones, according to February research from UCLA and Yale economists. And the lowest-income households in America spent more than triple their share of income on apparel compared to the wealthiest households in 2021, according to a report by the Trade Partnership Worldwide, an economic research firm, analyzing data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Phillip Dampier, a 57-year-old consumer rights writer, said he's been on Chinese e-commerce sites for about eight hours a day for the past two weeks. He's buying everything including paper products, kitchen tools, a portable heater, furniture, sheets and blankets — 'basically anything you might find in a JCPenney.' He said he's stocking up for the next two years, 'because I have a feeling that this economy is about to go into the tank, and we're going to have shortages that rivaled the pandemic.' Dempier, who lives in Rochester, New York, had been a longtime Amazon customer. Since the pandemic, he said that the Jeff Bezos-owned site had gotten more expensive and fell off its customer service. Then he made his first Temu purchase in 2023, and from there, he began shopping at AliExpress, Shein and even TaoBao, China's OG e-commerce site. For now, Amazon has walked back from publicly advertising the same model as Shein and Temu. After Amazon considered displaying the added cost of tariffs on certain items, Trump called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos to complain on Tuesday morning, two senior White House officials told CNN. An Amazon spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that the move 'was never a consideration for the main Amazon site.' The president later said that was a 'good call.' Shein, Temu and AliExpress have come under heavy criticism for their lack of product safety and labor protections, as well as their detrimental impact on the environment. These sites also encourage a culture of overconsumption. Customers are hypnotized by an endless algorithm of bright colors and coupon-earning games, but the products often end up in landfills as cheap junk. But Scott, the former nurse in Virginia, said buying American-made goods isn't much of an option. 'Whether I go to my local Walmart and buy it… that product was still manufactured overseas in some country where they pay horrible wages, maybe use child labor,' Scott said. Even if she finds something made in the US, 'it's wicked expensive.' As for overconsumption, Dampier added that people can over-shop at American stores like TJ Maxx and Ross, too. 'It's kind of biased to just claim that that's an issue with Temu and Shein, just because the prices are a little lower,' he said. Still, the Trump administration maintains the tit-for-tat tariffs are designed to put American manufacturing and businesses first. But US consumers interviewed by CNN have expressed skepticism that the tariffs will work — and for now, they're left bearing the cost. 'The entire idea of tariffs is idiotic, in my opinion,' Dampier said. The Trump administration 'is trying to bully everybody, and it's wrong, and the tariff policy is wrong.' CNN's Elisabeth Buchwald, Nathaniel Meyersohn, Alayna Treene, Betsy Klein and Jordan Valinsky, contributed to this report.
Daily Mail
30-04-2025
- Daily Mail
Walmart makes major change to self-checkout machines after spate of secret thefts
Walmart is making a change to self-checkout machines which has been dubbed a 'chastity belt.' The retailer has added a bright yellow 'belt' on top of pin pads on the machines following a surge in card skimming. A Reddit user known as mateo360, who claims to be a Walmart employee, posted a photo of the machine captioned 'my manager called it a chastity belt for the pin pad.' It comes after a Reddit post featuring an image of a Walmart card reader with a similar gadget and red tape went viral. 'I think this might be protecting the reader from people attaching skimmers,' a Reddit user wrote. 'If you look closely, you can see that those yellow edges are actually protruding outward, like the cover around the pin pad at an ATM,' another person commented. Card skimming is when someone illegally installs on a card reader or other devices to obtain someone's personal data. This could lead to a string of unauthorized transactions, identity theft, and counterfeit card creations. Besides new tools, Walmart has removed self-checkout machines from some of its stores, hoping it would lessen the frequency of card skimming. Skimming devices are usually found inserted in the card reader or can be attached to the key pad with a fake overlay. Criminals also occasionally install pinhole cameras, which can be used to capture pin numbers being entered in the system. There are ways shoppers and Walmart employees can tell if a machine has been compromised. A card reader that's loose, off-center, or has parts that wiggle, mean it has potentially been affected. The machine could also have a thicker-than-normal key pad, along with differences in colors. In the case of the 'chastity belt,' the gadget is reportedly protecting the key pad and terminal from skimmers. Employees and shoppers will also know if a machine has been messed with if they notice red tape on the machine is missing or damaged. Over 231,000 cards fell victim to card skimmers in 2024, a 27 percent decrease compared to the year before. But Walmart has continued to be a frequented card skimming target nationwide. A high-profile card skimming case occurred last summer in Connecticut when two men were caught installing fake pin pads into self-checkout terminals. Skimming devices were also found in Walmarts throughout Virginia and three stores in Pennsylvania in March. Other machines card skimmers typically strike are gas pumps, ATMs, and registers at restaurants and bars. Card skimming is expected to cause Americans significant financial loss again this year - and potentially cost cardholders and financial institutions more than $1 billion in damages.
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - China is teaching Trump some tough lessons on trade
China is about to hand President Trump his head. Trump's efforts to bully China into submission via tariffs has already gone spectacularly wrong. Far from being intimidated, China has been invigorated with a new sense of national purpose. To anyone who had the slightest understanding of Chinese history, this was all perfectly predictable. The First Opium War in 1839 — there were two — was, ironically enough, a dispute over the trade deficit. It involved Great Britain attacking China to force it to allow Western powers, including the U.S., to sell opium into China. If you imagine the Chinese occupying New York City to force the U.S. to legalize the trade in fentanyl, you get some idea of what this incident means to people in China. The First Opium War began what the Chinese call the 'century of humiliation,' during which China was exploited and invaded by various foreign powers. It didn't end until the Japanese were driven out at the end of World War Two. This is still an open wound for China, so it is politically impossible for Xi Jinping to give in to Trump's intimidation even if he wanted to. And he doesn't want to. Trump's efforts to punish China by imposing a 145 percent tariff on Chinese imports was actually the greatest gift he could have given Xi. First, China is far better positioned to survive a trade war than is the U.S., for one simple reason: China can solve its biggest problem by throwing money at it. Exporters may lose business, but China can use some of the more than $750 billion it has invested in U.S. Treasurys alone to keep them afloat. The U.S. can't do that — we have a supply-chain problem, not a financial problem. Once China stops exporting to the U.S., there is no amount of money we can spend that will fill up our Walmarts. Remember trying to buy medical masks during the pandemic? Multiply that by tens of thousands of products. Many things will be completely unavailable, and what is available will be much more expensive. Not even Trump can repeal the law of supply and demand by executive order. China also has a long-term interest in making its economy less dependent on exports and decreasing its dependence on Western technology. Trump's trade war gives Xi the perfect opportunity to pursue these goals, since any resultant pain will now be the fault of rapacious foreigners seeking to humiliate China yet again. So China is in no hurry to end the current stand-off, a fact that is now making Trump extremely nervous. When pressed, Trump has a habit of saying whatever he thinks will buy him some time and take the pressure off, regardless of whether it is true or not. His constant promises to release some new policy 'in the next two weeks' became a running joke during his first term. He's doing the same thing now, issuing fantasy statements about how a trade deal with China is imminent. Despite Trump's claim that Chinese officials have 'reached out' to him a number of times and his insistence that active talks are going on 'every day,' there are no negotiations going on at all. Trump is essentially negotiating with himself. He abandoned his 145 percent tariff on Chinese-made electronics within 48 hours, and now, in response to Chinese silence, he's telling the world that tariffs on China will be much lower. He insists 'We're going to be very nice. They're going to be very nice, and we'll see what happens. But ultimately, they have to make a deal because otherwise they're not going to be able to deal in the United States.' You can practically smell the fear. If you have to begin a negotiation by insisting that the other side come to the table, you've lost already. Trump has good reason to be afraid, just as the Chinese have good reason to let him stew. While the impact of an effective trade embargo will begin to empty shelves in a matter of weeks, most wholesale Christmas orders are placed with factories by the beginning of June. None of those orders are going to be made if retailers think they might be hit with 145 percent tariffs on Christmas lights and Barbie dolls. 'The Trump That Stole Christmas' headlines write themselves. Of course, Trump is free to abandon U.S. tariffs on China unilaterally, but there is no guarantee that China will reciprocate. All this means that Trump has dug himself a very deep hole, and the Chinese are not going to help him dig his way out. Before they agree to restore normal trade, they're going to extract a price. It might be a groveling public apology. It might be a promise to abandon Taiwan — something Trump is probably temperamentally inclined to do anyway — or it might be a formal recognition of China's 'nine-dash line' territorial claims. But whatever it is, it will be big. And it will be bad for America. Trump's effort to punish China for 'defying' him was an essay in historical ignorance and economic foolishness. He is now getting schooled in real time. And it's going to be an expensive lesson, both for him and for us. Chris Truax is an appellate attorney who served as Southern California chair for John McCain's primary campaign in 2008. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
