The US government may be preparing to investigate internet retail giants like Shein and Temu
Online retailers like Temu and Shein are known for selling cheap products like baby clothes, kitchen gadgets and electronics. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) wants to know the true costs that foreign online retailers are cutting to sell these products at lower prices.
CPSC commissioners Peter Feldman and Douglas Dziak released a joint statement today calling for their staff to evaluate the operations of foreign e-commerce sites. The statement cites Shein and Temu as two online retail companies that “raise specific concerns.”
Recent news reports of “deadly baby and toddlers products” being sold on these platforms started to raise red flags at the CPSC. A recent report from The Information found several baby and children’s products on Shein deemed to be unsafe, such as children’s drawstring hoodies for sale that had been flagged by regulators as a strangulation risk. The fashion industry news site Fashion Dive found Temu selling children’s pajamas by brands that the CPSC ruled violated “the flammability standards for children’s sleepwear.”
A Shein spokesperson said in a statement to CNN that its customers’ safety remains their “top priority and we are investing millions of dollars to strengthen our compliance programs.” We’ve also reached out to Temu by email for the opportunity to respond to the CSPC claims.
The CSPC isn’t the first US government agency to scrutinize foreign e-commerce companies like Shein and Temu. Last year, the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission issued a brief detailing the challenges presented by “Chinese ‘fast fashion’ platforms.” The Commission questioned these platforms’ alleged exploitations of trade loopholes and concerns about its sale of items that posed product safety risks, violated copyrights and trademarks and used forced labor to make and sell products.
This article contains affiliate links; if you click such a link and make a purchase, we may earn a commission.
You Might Also Like
There’s a Stranger Things Polly Pocket set, and its design is really clever
Mattel's latest Polly Pocket collab is a Stranger Things playset that houses the fictional town of Hawkins and the Upside...
All the iPhone 16, AirPods and Apple Watch news expected on Monday
For Apple devotees, the biggest tech day of the year is coming up: The Apple iPhone 16 launch event. It'll...
Over 1.4 million Ram 1500 trucks recalled to fix a bug in the anti-lock brake system
Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler, has issued a recall for Ram 1500 pickup trucks from 2019 and 2021-2024 due...
Meta shares how WhatsApp and Messenger will interact with other messaging apps in the EU
Meta is making changes to WhatsApp and Messenger in order to add interoperability with third-party chat apps — in Europe,...