The Trump administration will cut tariffs on small-value parcels shipped from China to 54% to 120% as part of a tempering of trade tensions between Washington and Beijing. The news is positive for both e-commerce giant Amazon stock and Facebook parent company Meta Platforms .
A White House executive order on Monday lowered the fee on so-called "de minimis" shipments from China and Hong Kong. The term applies to individual parcels valued at less than $800. Under previous trade rules, those packages could enter the U.S. duty-free. But President Donald Trump used an executive order in April to suspend the de minimis exemption for packages from China and Hong Kong, starting May 2. He imposed a 120% tariff on each packages' value.
The move placed significant new costs for e-commerce retailers such as Temu and Shein that import low cost packages directly to U.S. customers from merchants in China. Use of the exemption had surged as both sites grew in popularity.
But the move also mattered for Amazon. Temu is a competitor and analysts expected its threat to U.S. retailers would weaken from the steep tariffs.
But Amazon also launched a discount part of its site called Amazon Haul late least year, which utilizes a direct-from-China sales model similar to Temu and Shein. The de minimis change was clearly adding costs to that business: Amazon had considered individually listing import costs on Haul items last month, a move that garnered heated pushback from the White House.
On the stock market today, Amazon stock is up more than 2% at 214.17. Shares are recovering further toward mid-February highs after an 8% rally yesterday that came after the U.S. and China agreed to ease overall tariffs for 90 days.
Meta Stock And Amazon Stock Gain
The news also has implications for Meta stock. Both Temu and Shein spent big on social media advertising to find new users in the U.S. Temu was one of the top ad buyers on Facebook and Instagram in 2023 and 2024. Both companies had pulled back significantly on U.S. advertising in the weeks following Trump's tariffs and de minimis changes.
Meta CFO Susan Li told analysts late last month the company had seen "some reduced spend in the U.S. from Asia-based e-commerce exporters, which we believe is in anticipation of the de minimis exemption going away on May 2." But, she added, a portion of that spending had been directed to other markets. Social media rival Pinterest offered similar commentary last week.
It remains to be seen whether Temu and Shein adjust their U.S. spending in response to the easing tariffs. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Temu would no longer ship directly to customers from China, focusing instead on its local logistics operations.
Meta stock was up more than 3% at 660 in recent action. Shares gained 8% Monday.
Meanwhile, U.S.-listed shares of PDD Holdings, which owns Temu, was up 3% at 120.
