Chinese online marketplace Temu is now allowing Canadian vendors to sell their wares on its platform, just as the political climate is pushing more Canadian consumers to buy domestically.
This marks the first time Canadian businesses will be able to sell Canadian-made products through Temu’s online marketplace. Previously, Canadian consumers could purchase discount goods from Temu, which were primarily manufactured in China.
Thirty-nine percent of Canadian online shoppers have made a purchase on Temu in the past year.
The new program is open exclusively to businesses registered in Canada with local inventory and certain fulfillment capabilities, which Temu did not specify in the press release. According to Temu, the feature will result in faster order fulfillment and a broader range of product options for consumers, particularly for larger products that are trickier to ship.
BetaKit has reached out to Temu for more details on the program.
The new feature comes amid a push to buy Canadian products, driven by the threat of a United States (US)-Canada trade war that experts and businesses warn could severely impact the Canadian economy. Canadian tech companies have debuted open databases and grocery-scanning apps to encourage consumers to support domestic businesses.
Canadian e-commerce company Shopify also rolled out a “buy local” filter on its Shop app in early February. The feature is now available in “all countries supported by Shopify Payments,” which includes Canada and the US but not Mexico.
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Temu itself is not immune to the economic fallout of US tariff threats. The largely Chinese marketplace, along with rival discount retailer Shein, relies on the “de minimis” exemption that US President Donald Trump has threatened to revoke. This exemption allows up to $800 worth of goods per person per day to be transported into the US duty-free—parameters that apply to much of Temu’s US sales.
Temu’s marketplace opened to Canadian consumers in February 2023. According to market research by Omnisend, 39 percent of Canadian online shoppers have made a purchase through Temu in the past year.
The discount marketplace entered the US market in 2022 and opened its online marketplace to American sellers in November 2024. Temu is owned by PDD Holdings, which also owns the agricultural online marketplace Pinduoduo.
Local vendors can now sell on Temu in the US, Mexico, the United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, and several European countries.
Feature image courtesy BetaKit Illustrations. Image asset courtesy Temu.