Online shopping giants Temu and Shein have seen a sustained drop in sales in the week after US President Donald Trump scrapped a duty exemption that their small parcels benefit from, suggesting a chilling effect on American consumers who previously flocked to their ultra-cheap wares.

Sellers and shoppers on the two sites say they saw items disappear and prices go up after President Donald Trump implemented tariffs on Chinese imports.

PDD Holding’s (PDD) e-commerce platform, Temu, and a privately held online retailer, Shein, have recently seen a major drop in their U.S.

President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff threats have been touch and go. As it stands currently, the 25 percent tax on goods from Mexico and Canada is on ice for a month, but a 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods is set to take effect on Tuesday, via an executive order of questionable legality.

Trump revoked a tax loophole that saved companies tens of billions of dollars in fees on imports. Prices on such orders could now go up an average of 30 percent.

Shein and Temu shifted more of their orders to be fulfilled in the US ahead of de minimis changes.

A decision by President Trump to close a tariff loophole could change the landscape of online shopping, particularly for the Chinese e-commerce companies behind wildly successful sites, such as Shein and Temu.

The Trump administration move to stop low-cost imports entering the U.S. tariff-free is likely to hit fast fashion retailer Shein harder than online dollar-store Temu, thanks to Temu's wider product range and moves to change its shipping strategy.