Mexico has found itself in the middle of a trade war — of words — after the U.S. and Chinese embassies in Mexico squared off on social media over criticism of Chinese e-commerce apps like Shein and Temu.

On Thursday, the U.S. Embassy in Mexico published a video urging users in Mexico to delete Chinese cell phone apps, citing data security risks and other concerns. 

“Si en tu telefono tienes aplicaciones de productos de bajo costo, es momento de borrarlas. No solamente porque tienen in Class Action Suit en EE.UU., tienen una demanda por la cantidad de datos que roban de tu cellular, pero simplemente por que cada vez que compras en una… pic.twitter.com/wEV5dEv2gr

— Embajada EU en Mex (@USEmbassyMEX) March 28, 2025

The video singled out Shein, Temu, AliBaba and AliExpress, claiming that these websites not only jeopardize personal data but that the Chinese retailers negatively impact Mexican industry.

In the video, businessman Andrés Díaz Bedolla said these Chinese apps face class-action suits in the U.S. over data theft.

Díaz Bedolla, founder of Yumari — a platform that seeks to connect Latin American companies with global value chains — claimed that these retailers are willing to lose up to US $30 on each sale to undercut the local competition.

“If you have these apps on your phone, it is time to eliminate them,” said Díaz Bedolla, a graduate of the U.S. State Department’s Young Leaders of the Americas program.

“We simply should not be doing this if what we want in the end is economic growth and development for our country,” he said.

Shortly thereafter, the Chinese Embassy in Mexico responded with a social media post of its own, calling on the U.S. “to eliminate your lies.”

In the message published on X, China said that U.S. “hegemonic practices” including reciprocal tariffs, fentanyl tariffs and automobile tariffs are destroying Mexico’s industry and damaging Mexico’s sovereign interests.

On Jan. 1, Mexico implemented a tax on products imported via e-commerce sites and international courier companies. As Mexico doesn’t have a trade agreement with China, companies such as Temu and Shein were slapped with 19% tariffs.

Estados Unidos y las prácticas de hegemonía como los llamados “arancel recíproco”, “arancel de fentanilo” y “arancel de autos” están destruyendo las industrias mexicanas y depreciando sus intereses soberanos.
¡Es momento de borrar las mentiras del norte y apoyar las industrias… pic.twitter.com/iUXmWkq5CN

— Embajada de China en México (@EmbChinaMex) March 27, 2025

AliExpress, Shein and Temu responded by offering discounts and temporary subsidies on products shipped to Mexico.

In mid-December, Mexico imposed a 35% duty on imports of finished textile products.

This tariff was imposed exclusively on products imported from countries without a free trade agreement with Mexico and is mainly designed to protect Mexican producers from cheap Chinese clothing. This tax directly affected Shein, Temu and AliExpress.

Upon announcing these tariffs, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum alleged that digital apps were indeed contributing to the closure of companies in Mexico. She cited government data showing an 8% decline in textile production in 2024 and 20,000 job losses.

Some entrepreneurs also purchased in bulk from the e-commerce companies in order to resell the imported products in Mexico. To curb the practice, the government imposed restrictions on the number of monthly deliveries permitted.

With reports from El Financiero, El Universal and SDP Noticias