Product safety, labor practices, unfair competition, data privacy, and counterfeit goods are concerns associated with the company, said Sen. Rick Scott.
Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) is calling on the Commerce Department to launch an investigation into the business practices of the Chinese budget online retailer Temu.
“To protect our nation’s economic interests and the well-being of our citizens, I believe it is imperative that we address this issue promptly,” Scott told Raimondo.
Scott identified five areas of concern surrounding Temu—product safety and quality, labor practices, unfair competition, data privacy, and counterfeit goods—as reasons why the Commerce Department must take action against the shopping platform.
The Florida senator warned that products sold on Temu “are not subject to the rigorous safety tests and inspections that other competitor products made elsewhere around the world undergo.”
“There are concerns that Temu may be a conduit for counterfeit products,” he added.
“There are reports of unsafe working conditions, labor abuses, and human rights violations associated with [the] production of products for Temu,” Scott wrote. “We need to ensure that the products sold on Temu are not manufactured using forced labor or other unethical practices that violate international labor standards.”
“Temu does not have any system to ensure compliance with the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA),” the report reads.
Scott also questioned Temu’s ability to sell products at lower prices than American retailers, suggesting that it could result from “unfair trade practices or the exploitation of loopholes in our import regulations.”
“De minimis shipments, now numbering 3 million a day, are at an elevated risk of violating UFLPA, containing counterfeit goods, exacerbating the fentanyl crisis, or posing a serious health danger to consumers,” the two senators wrote in their letter.
The Florida senator pointed out in his Aug. 14 letter that data security should be another concern.
“Given Temu’s Chinese ownership, we must investigate potential risks to American consumers’ data privacy and security,” Scott wrote. “Concerns regarding exploitation of Temu application users lead U.S. based companies to announce warnings and ‘how-to’ guides on removing the Temu application from its application purchasing platform and user devices.”
Scott asked the Commerce Department to “launch a comprehensive investigation” into Temu, work with the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the Federal Trade Commission to assess potential risks, evaluate the need for new regulations, and submit a detailed report to Congress on its findings.
The Florida senator also requested a meeting with Raimondo to discuss the issue.
The Epoch Times has contacted the Commerce Department and Temu for comment but did not receive a response at the time of publication.