US regulators want to probe Shein and Temu for consumer safety

U.S. safety regulators from the Consumer Product Safety Commission or CPSC are urging staff of the commission to evaluate ecommerce platforms Shein, Temu, and others to determine how these foreign-owned firms that rely on overseas suppliers meet their obligations under the Consumer Product Safety Act. The statement said in part: ” 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. This examination will inform the Commission on the legal status of these platforms. To the extent a platform falls outside the Commission’s reach, policymakers must understand where gaps exist and how best to address them. Likewise, the Commission must better understand what enforcement challenges exist with respect to foreign third-party sellers. Where agencycompliance staff discover safety violations, we expect CPSC to initiate enforcement actions. Shein and Temu raise specific concerns. We are aware of recent media reports that deadly baby and toddler products are easy to find on 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.”We seek to better understand these firms, particularly their focus on low-value direct-to-consumer,sometimes called de minimis,shipments and the enforcement challenges when firms with little or no U.S. presence distribute consumer products through these platforms.” Companies that may be impacted include TJX (TJX), Etsy (ETSY), eBay (EBAY), Macy’s (M), Target (TGT) Amazon (AMZN) and Walmart (WMT).