The German Trade Association (HDE) is calling on politicians to take a tougher approach towards Chinese cheap marketplaces like Temu.
“Neither the European nor the German legislature are in a position to fully enforce their regulations and laws against Chinese companies,” said HDE deputy managing director Stephan Tromp to the German Press Agency. This would create distortions of competition.
According to the trade association, this also applies to the German supply chain law. The regulation is intended to guarantee compliance with human rights among suppliers and has also applied since January to companies with at least 1,000 employees in Germany. “The responsible federal authority is by no means lifting a finger to enforce the requirements for Chinese companies – which also sell to end customers and are therefore in direct competition with German dealers,” said Tromp.
The trade association also cites product safety concerns: Electrical devices purchased there often do not comply with the applicable safety regulations, said Tromp. Textiles and shoes often exceed the maximum permissible values of certain chemicals. Furthermore, plagiarism is also offered on the Chinese platforms. “When a market is flooded with unsafe products, danger is imminent.”
Trading platforms like Temu do not therefore have to be banned from the market straight away. “Because if everyone has to adhere to the same rules, competition takes place for the benefit of consumers. Then the better solution wins,” said Tromp. But if such platforms could make things easier for themselves because politicians and the authorities don’t control them so closely, that would be unfair. Trade association calls for improved customs duties and more market surveillance
The HDE is therefore calling for customs, which is responsible for parcel handling, to be strengthened. “Customs are simply overwhelmed by the sheer volume,” said Tromp, who is also an expert in digitalization at the HDE. A starting point could also be a digital platform where every shipment has to be registered. Parcels from retailers who did not adhere to the rules could be sorted out more easily and quickly. In addition, market surveillance must take action on a large scale: “They are currently taking almost no samples or trying to prosecute Chinese traders on such platforms.”
Temu recently caused a stir with discount offers of up to 90 percent. The company, which does not act as a seller itself but only provides retailers with its marketplace as a platform, has quickly established itself on the German market. Of the shopping apps in Germany, Temu was the most downloaded in 2023, according to the web analysis company Similarweb. (dpa)