More questions have been raised around Shein’s London listing after president Trump made a move to close a tax ‘loophole’ that has allowed the likes of Shein and Temu to sell cheap products while avoiding tax charges.

Both Shein and Temu have relied on the ‘de minimis rule’, which allows imports valued under $800 (£645) to enter the US duty-free by shipping small orders directly to consumers, a rule Trump has promised to scrap.

The new rules increase the possibility of higher duty costs for both Shein and Temu as the majority of its sales in the US rely on shipping small packages.

Estimates compiled by the US select committee on the Chinese Communist Party last year suggested that Shein and Temu were responsible for amost 600,000 packages being sent to the US every day under the threshold, according to The Telegraph.

The increase duty costs could have adverse effects in particular to Shein ahead of its highly-anticipated London IPO, as investors wanting to buy shares in the company will want assurances over the reliability of its forecasts.

This is expected to prove a challenge for Shein as a result of the uncertainty over tax changes and its impact on sales.

While the full scope of the change is yet to be made clear, both retailers could face hundreds of millions of dollars in additional impact duties as a result.

This comes after it was reported yesterday that campaigners launched a fresh attempt to block Shein’s IPO over claims the business has benefited from the “proceeds of crime”.

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