Temu under pressure: complaint filed with the cartel office
The online marketplace Temu is under pressure. The HDE trade association is criticizing violations of price freedom and has called in the Federal Cartel Office.
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The German Retail Association (HDE) has filed a complaint with the Federal Cartel Office against Temu for alleged violations of the freedom to set prices. The Chinese online marketplace requires retailers to offer products for no more than 85 percent of the price of similar products on other platforms. In addition, the platform reserves the right to intervene directly in pricing and make the final decision.
The trade association warns of further violations of German and European law. For example, Temu regularly fails to indicate the mandatory 30-day best price, which is only supposed to show supposedly cheap offers. The platform also frequently uses false countdowns for discount campaigns to persuade potential customers to make an immediate purchase.
Temu under criticism
″Whoever offers and sells goods in this country must also abide by our rules and laws, ″ says HDE President Alexander von Preen. The rapidly growing marketplace has been criticized for some time now because, in addition to obvious counterfeit products, the products sold there are often contaminated with harmful substances or otherwise dangerous.
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Things are not going well for Temu in America either. In addition to tariffs of up to 104% on Chinese imports, the US government has suspended the de minimis rule. This allowed the duty-free import of goods worth less than 800 US dollars, and was used by marketplaces such as Shein and Temu to sell goods at sometimes absurdly low prices. The duty-free import of goods from China is also discussed here in Germany.
(acha)
