The shine is fading for China’s e-commerce darling, Pinduoduo HoldingsPDD

, as intensifying competition and cautious consumers weigh on its meteoric rise. The company behind the bargain shopping sensation Temu reported its weakest growth since mid-2022, with a 44% revenue increase to $13.7B — missing Wall Street’s expectations and causing a 10% premarket drop in shares. This shift is partly attributed to concerns about Chinese import tariffs, sparked by Donald Trump’s presidential victory.

• Currently, ~4M packages daily enter the US tariff-free under a 1930s-era law — with Temu and Shein accounting for over 30% of these shipments.
• The National Retail Federation estimates these tariffs could slash American consumer spending by $46B to $78B annually, with clothing and household goods facing the steepest declines.

Storm clouds ahead: Temu isn’t just fighting off tariffs. This slowdown also comes as rivals like AlibabaBABA

and JD.comJD

ramp up promotions and discounts, igniting a fierce price war in China’s e-commerce sector. The competition now extends beyond Chinese contenders, with AmazonAMZN

already stepping into the bargain shopping arena with its “Amazon Haul” section. PDD’s Zhao Jiazhen remarked, “To stay competitive, we had to incur much higher costs than peers, which inevitably impacts our profitability now and into the future,” suggesting that the chapter of ultra-rapid growth may be behind them.