Shein, Temu sold deadly baby products, US consumer protection agency says

Online retailers Shein and Temu are being singled out by the US Consumer Products Safety Commission over claims the Singapore-based bargain-basement websites are selling deadly baby and toddler products to US customers.

The two heads of the US Consumer Products Safety Commission released a joint statement on Tuesday asking the agency staff to evaluate foreign e-commerce platforms and whether they are legally compliant with the US Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA).

The Commissioners, Peter A. Feldman and Douglas Dziak, are specifically concerned about the safety of items from overseas suppliers sold on Shein, Temu, and other Chinese-owned online retailers.

“We are aware of recent media reports that deadly baby and toddler products are easy to find on these platforms,” the September 3rd missive stated.

Enacted in 1972, the CPSA “protects the public from unreasonable risks of serious injury or death from thousands of types of consumer products under its jurisdiction, including products that pose a fire, electrical, chemical, or mechanical hazard or can injure children, the US government agency states.

The two say the “thousands of Chinese factories and vendors” joining in on the lucrative Shein and Temu supply chain, procuring what critics call ‘low-quality products,’ prompted the investigation request.

The letter cited a report by The Information published last month, which found that outlawed items such as padded crib bumpers for babies and drawstring hoodies for toddlers – both of which could result in suffocation – were available on the site for purchase and delivery to the US.

“Third-party sellers, domestic and foreign, are proliferating on online platforms,” they said, adding that Shein and Temu’s “popularity has exploded in the US with their offers of inexpensive made-in-China goods, from T-shirts and handbags to electronics and kitchen items.”

The Commissioners said they are worried about the lack of US oversight of “low-value direct-to-consumer” or “de minimis” shipments of products through these platforms.

De minimis is a rule exempting packages valued at $800 or less from tariffs if they are sent directly to shoppers, according to Reuters.

A bipartisan group of US lawmakers last year contemplated introducing a bill to eliminate the de minimis rule, which is widely used by many e-commerce platforms, including third-party sellers on Amazon.com and Walmart.com, the news outlet reported.

Over the next year, the agency will be tasked with investigating the e-commerce platforms’ “safety and compliance controls, relationships with third-party sellers and consumers, and any representations they make when products are imported,” it said.

The Commissioners said that policies need to be created so that when gaps exist, the agency knows how to best address them. This includes how to actually enforce legal obligations when it comes to foreign third-party sellers who violate the CPSC.

Spokespeople for both Shein and Temu say they are and have been in the process of addressing the compliance issues.

Shein said it is investing $50 million into strengthening their compliance programs to adhere to US safety laws, while Temu stated it already requires all sellers to comply with "applicable product safety laws and regulations."

“We expect this review by Commission staff will inform what further steps are needed to protect American consumers,” the federal officials noted, adding that “manufacturers, retailers, importers, and distributors” all fall within the jurisdiction of CPSC.

The letter did not mention any products by name or reveal details about any known fatal incidents.