Online retailer Temu has filtered its ad share down to nothing after President Donald Trump announced tariffs against China, where it is based.
Temu, founded in 2022, was the most downloaded app in the United States last year, with 51 million monthly active users in January. The retailer sells everything from clothes to wallets to gadgets at a fraction of American retailer prices. It has spent millions on advertisements, including ads in the Super Bowl.
Performance marketing firm Tinuiti reported that as recently as Mar. 31, Temu had just less than a fifth of Google Shopping impressions but dwindled to zero by Apr. 12. At the same time, Pathmatics reported Temu was spending well over $1 million in social media ads but has decreased in recent days.
PDD Holdings, the parent company to Temu, started the month with a stock price of roughly $125 a share but has since dwindled to around $94.40 as of Tuesday afternoon.
This time last year, then-Sen. Marco Rubio was calling for the Biden administration to investigate whether Temu was exploiting U.S. trade laws, using forced labor, or compromising people’s data. Additionally, Rubio, along with Sen. Tom Cotton (R‑AR) wanted to look into their backing by the Chinese Communist Party.
China remains the outlier with a 145% tariff. The Chinese Communist Party filed a lawsuit against the U.S. with the World Trade Organization over its initial 10% tariff. In an additional move to pressure the U.S., China issued tariffs against Canada. Most recently, China opted to halt the exports of critical minerals to the U.S.
During Tuesday’s press briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt read a statement from the president insisting “the ball is in China’s court” regarding tariffs.
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“China needs to make a deal with us; we don’t have to make a deal with them. There’s no difference between China and any other country except they are much larger, and China wants what we have … the American consumer,” the statement read.
Many devices like laptops and smartphones found themselves exempted from tariffs — a slight relief to China, as it manufactures most of the technology bought by U.S. consumers.