De minimis reprieve keeps Temu and Shein cheap as 'Made in USA' gains ground

A planned revocation of the $800 de minimis exemption, which lets companies like Temu and Shein ship low-cost goods into the U.S. duty-free, was paused by the administration, with billions of small parcels flooding ports and customs lacking a clear enforcement policy. The reprieve keeps ultra-cheap imports flowing, but observers call it temporary.

Temu is seen as the most at-risk player because its model depends entirely on the exemption, unlike Amazon's domestic fulfillment network. The company is lobbying hard and reportedly exploring U.S.-based fulfillment centers to blunt future tariffs. Meanwhile U.S. brands face rising costs as Chinese manufacturers pass tariff increases through, and a countertrend is building: surveys show shoppers increasingly willing to pay more for American-made supplements, apparel, and home goods, and some states are adding manufacturing tax incentives. FTC rules require products to be all or virtually all U.S.-made to carry the label, Amazon now demands proof of domestic production for such claims, and there is speculation Amazon could eventually boost U.S.-made products in search the way it highlights Prime items.

Amazon's Rufus assistant continues its rapid climb: after processing 100 million queries by September 2024, it hit 500 million by January 2025, with projections that 10 to 25 percent of Amazon searches could run through it by January 2026. Optimization guidance now centers on descriptive noun phrases instead of keyword stuffing, complete backend attributes, text overlays on images that Rufus reads via OCR, Q&A-style content, and a test-and-iterate loop of asking Rufus questions on product pages and adjusting within 24 hours.

Amazon also reported $187.8 billion in fourth-quarter revenue, likely surpassing Walmart for the first time and ending Walmart's 12-year run as the world's top company by revenue.

New seller tooling includes SmartScout's Buy Box Map, which visualizes an ASIN's shipping speed by state. With one in five products having Buy Box winners that vary by state, slow regional shipping quietly costs sellers Buy Box ownership, conversions, and ad efficiency.

UPS is cutting Amazon delivery volume by more than half by late 2026 to focus on more profitable clients. Amazon accounted for $10.7 billion, or 11.8 percent, of UPS revenue in 2024. UPS plans $1 billion in cost savings, targets a 12 percent domestic operating margin by late 2026, and expects 2025 revenue near $89 billion, while Amazon now delivers over 70 percent of its own packages.

In other headlines, Instagram is offering TikTok creators up to $50,000 a month to switch platforms, investors are pouring money into influencer marketing platforms, and of the more than 45 billion daily internet searches, 8.5 billion happen on Google.