Persona non grata In the United States, the Chinese brands of Ultra Fast Fashion Shein and Temu pay the cost of the customs policy established by President Donald Trump. From now on, Chinese parcels entering American territory are taxed between 120 and 145% of their value. These customs tariffs, which now double the price of products, bring down their sales. Exactly the effect expected by Donald Trump!
Then driven out on one side of the Atlantic, Shein and Temu, forced to find a new playground to sell their products, settle in force … in Europe, and particularly in France. According to the exclusive data from Sensor Tower relayed by Reutersthe advertising expenses of Shein and Temu have experienced the highest increase in France and the United Kingdom compared to other European countries. In a month, Shein inflated its 35% pub budget and 40% in France in France. Over one year, the increase reached 45% for Shein and 20% for TEMU. Meanwhile, in the United States, they cut the taps: -31% for Shein and -19% for TEMU on social networks between March and April 2025. The two companies are now focusing on the loyalty of their current American customers, which represents 28% of sales of Shein in 2023.
The boss of the cooperative U Etrille Shein: “We do not work on equal arms”
-Sales up 178% for TEMU and 58% for Shein
The choice to bet on France is nothing chance. Our fellow citizens are fans of both brands. The proof? In 2024, according to the Economic Observatory of the French Fashion Institute (IFM), 19.9% of French people bought fashion products on Shein and 6.6% on TEMU. Between 2023 and 2024, sales in Shein increased by 58%, according to data published by the Joko shopping application, while those of TEMU, which delivers two million French people each month, exploded by 178% over the same period. Over the last twelve months, The French have a total of 4.8 billion euros at Shein and Temuwith a respective distribution of 3 and 1.8 billion, the Panelist Circana advances. In value, the Amazon, Shein and Temu trio alone totals 24% of online sales during the first quarter of 2025.
Shein and Temu: should we believe in the promises of reinforced control of the products they sell to you?
But the European Eldorado could quickly turn to the regulatory mines field. Like the United States, Europe also wants to put sticks in the wheels of these Chinese platforms that pour cheap products, of poor quality, even dangerous for consumers. The French executive presented, at the end of April, a plan to charge “Management feesOn each small package entering Europe, from 2026, in order to finance the controls called to strengthen. It’s about doing “pay importers, platforms, not consumers, a small lump sum on packages“Said the Minister of Public Accounts Amélie de Montchalin, evoking a few euros per parcel, without specifying the amount. This tax would be applied from 2026, until 2028, the date on which the European Union could remove the exemption from customs tax on packages of a value of less than 150 euros, arriving from countries outside the European Union.
