EU watchdogs raid Temu’s Dublin HQ in foreign subsidy investigation | Business

Temu’s European headquarters in Dublin have been raided by EU regulators investigating a possible breach of international subsidy laws.The Chinese language on-line retailer, which is already within the European Fee’s highlight over alleged failures to forestall unlawful content material being bought on its app and web site, was raided final week with out warning or any subsequent publicity.“We are able to verify that the fee has carried out an unannounced inspection on the premises of an organization energetic within the e-commerce sector within the EU, below the international subsidies regulation,” a fee spokesperson mentioned on Thursday.Temu was approached for remark.Its headquarters are on St Stephen’s Inexperienced, one among Dublin’s most prestigious addresses. Neighbours embrace the five-star Shelbourne lodge and Cantor Fitzgerald, a US finance firm.The EU’s international subsidies regulation targets corporations judged to have been given a aggressive benefit by means of authorities subsidies.The EU launched tariffs of as much as 38% on a collection of Chinese language automobile producers final 12 months after an extended investigation below World Commerce Group guidelines. It concluded the businesses have been receiving direct and oblique subsidies from the Chinese language authorities, together with assist delivery vehicles to Europe and in securing land for factories.Temu, which has about 116 million month-to-month customers within the EU, says it gives shoppers the chance to “store like a billionaire” by connecting them with “tens of millions of sellers, producers and types with the mission to empower them to reside a greater life”.The fee opened an investigation into Temu final 12 months below its 2022 Digital Providers Act, which governs on-line platforms.Officers mentioned in July that preliminary findings confirmed Temu was not doing sufficient to forestall the sale of unlawful merchandise. A Temu spokesperson mentioned on the time: “Temu takes product security and compliance very critically. We’ve a system of vendor vetting, proactive monitoring and responsive takedowns to forestall, detect and take away unsafe merchandise.”Issues are rising in regards to the commerce relationship between the EU and China, with figures final month exhibiting Germany was, for the primary time, importing extra from China than it was exporting.The extent of the imbalance was evident this week in figures exhibiting that China’s world exports within the first 11 months of the 12 months outpaced imports by greater than $1tn (£750bn).A good portion of that surplus was generated by shipments to the EU, which final 12 months ran a commerce deficit with China of greater than $350bn.It’s thought that producers in China have been directing extra items to non-US markets in response to US tariffs, fuelling an export surge to Europe, Australia and south-east Asia.