Priscilla Marie Lopez never set out to sell online. She built her TikTok following by posting cooking videos of recipes and cooking on a budget when one went viral and drew millions of views. That momentum brought her into TikTok Shop, where she now promotes household products and apparel as an affiliate. Her first big seller? A chicken shredder.
Lopez’s business is built on speed, impulse and inexpensive products shipped directly from China. She does not carry inventory; TikTok manages shipping directly.
Now that business model is under threat thanks to the elimination of a once-obscure loophole in U.S. customs rules.
“A dress that I sell multiple every single day, I haven’t sold them in the last week because it was $11 to $15 and now they’re like, $60 to $80,” Lopez said. “It’s crazy.”
For years, platforms like TikTok Shop, Shein, and Temu relied on a trade rule called de minimis that allowed low-value packages from China to enter the United States without tariffs. That changed in early May when the Trump administration ended de minimis eligibility for shipments from China and Hong Kong, imposing steep duties and flat per-package fees.
But just weeks later, as part of renewed trade talks, the U.S. and China have partially restored the de minimis exemption. For sellers, the question is whether this reprieve signals a lasting shift or merely delays the disruption they’ve already begun to feel.
The de minimis exemption was originally designed to streamline customs by waiving tariffs on small, low-value shipments. It was meant to reduce border delays and free up enforcement capacity. However, it allowed platforms like Temu, Shein, and TikTok Shop, which shipped millions of individual parcels directly from Chinese warehouses to American doorsteps, to build their U.S. dominance on that model.
The foundation of this cross-border commerce model was always tenuous, according to Dr. John Zhang, a marketing professor at the Wharton School.
“This is a kind of exemption, there’s no way it’s sustainable,” he said.
The removal of de minimis privileges changes the equation entirely. Zhang noted that larger firms may find ways to hedge rising costs, but small sellers won’t have that flexibility.
“Smaller ones obviously have much less option,” he said. “If you have to pass the cost onto the consumers, and the consumer [is] not buying it, then of course, you’re doomed.”
TikTok Shop wasn’t designed for careful shopping. It thrived on instant gratification, frictionless checkout, algorithmic targeting, and the thrill of limited-time deals. Many sellers operated on razor-thin margins, sourcing directly from Chinese warehouses and avoiding intermediaries and import taxes.
But shoppers tend to hesitate when prices rise. On platforms like TikTok, consumers are far more likely to purchase items that cost less than $25, according to Wendy Gratereaux, CEO of Greaux Digital, a global marketing consultant agency. Getting them to commit beyond this price range, she said, depends on audience preference and trust. This price sensitivity is what makes the tariffs so disruptive. Sellers must now rethink whether their products can survive the extra costs without losing customers.
Nathan Mal, who founded Nathan and Sons, a company that makes chewing gum that helps replenish minerals and strengthen teeth enamel, said he saw the tariffs hit fast.
“Immediately, like our sweetener manufacturers, those prices doubled,” he said.
For xylitol, a sweetener, Mal usually pays around $6.45 for a kilo. However, with the tariffs, that new price increase is “just under $12.” Another sweetener, erythritol, went from around $4 for a kilo to between $7.50 and $8.
Though he was insulated by advance inventory, he expects costs to rise further. His biggest concern wasn’t just tariffs on ingredients but knockoff sellers using the de minimis exemption to undercut his pricing.
“They weren’t getting hit with any additional tariffs, weren’t having to pay taxes on it and essentially offshored the entire operation,” he said. “But then still charge the same amount that we’re able to charge.”
That kind of undercutting is exactly what fueled political backlash against de minimis. Lawmakers across both parties have called for tightening the rule in the name of supply chain fairness and national security. Last September, House Democrats wrote a letter to the Biden Administration calling for an end to the exemption. They said the exemption allowed “four million packages to enter the United States every day without inspection while dodging taxes and tariffs.”
To retain momentum, TikTok Shop has leaned on promotional tools such as coupons and bundled discounts. Analysts say major platforms are quietly testing fulfillment centers inside the U.S. and partnerships with domestic manufacturers.
The changes have forced a deeper shift for affiliates like Lopez, who is watching the ripple effects of the rising tariffs. If tariffs continue, Lopez said, it could drive sellers away from merchandise like clothing. She also worries the platform may impose new fees or changes on creators as it tries to recover lost revenue, reshaping what kinds of products people focus on selling.
Many sellers may not survive the shift, according to Dr. Simon Schropp, an international trade economist. Before the pause, some products faced tariffs of 245%, nearly two and half times more expensive than the product itself, he said.
“That breaks the neck of a lot of merchants who rely on imports from China,” he said.
He pointed to long delays, mounting paperwork, and backlogs that hit both micro sellers and final consumers.
Lopez isn’t sure how much more she can adapt. When the previous TikTok Shop ban happened in January, following a Supreme Court decision upholding a law that that required the platform be sold to a U.S. buyer, she said it felt like losing her job. But she had already begun preparing by branching into digital marketing and building income on several platforms. On Instagram, she promotes a course designed to help others do the same.
Whether this 90-day pause signals a lasting shift or merely delays a broader reckoning remains to be seen. For sellers, the uncertainty itself is the disruption and a reminder that the trade rules that shaped the last decade of digital commerce are no longer guaranteed.
Cheap goods powered a billion-dollar machine. With tariffs in place, what remains to power the scroll?
Lopez isn’t sure.
“We will wait to see what happens with the tariffs, and to try to find products that are not affected, products that are shipped and in the U.S.,” she said. “And that’s how we’re trying to pivot.”