Turkey’s Competition Authority (RK, to use its Turkish acronym) raided the offices of Chinese online retailer Temu in Istanbul on Wednesday morning, performing a rather aggressive “on-site inspection” for reasons the RK did not make entirely clear.
Whatever transpired on Wednesday morning, it did not feel like a friendly encounter. RK denied a statement from Temu that said the inspectors seized documents and computers during the raid, charging that the company’s statement “does not reflect the truth.”
“In order to ensure that the examination currently underway can proceed properly… it is not possible at this stage to share further information,” RK said, as quoted by Turkey’s Daily Sabah.
RK said the raid on Wednesday did not necessarily mean a “formal investigation” into Temu has been launched.
Like other Turkish and international media outlets, Daily Sabah surmised that RK’s action was probably motivated by concerns similar to those behind the European Union’s (EU) raid of Temu’s European office in Dublin in December.
EU regulators said they were investigating complaints about China using state subsidies to artificially reduce the price of Temu’s goods. The EU has a law known as the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR) that forbids the unfair use of aid by foreign governments to flood domestic markets with cut-rate products and destroy local industries.
The EU also previously investigated Temu for allowing “illegal products” to be sold through its online platform, such as electronics and children’s toys that did not meet EU product standards.
Temu and its chief rival, another Chinese mega-corporation called Shein, take advantage of regulatory exemptions on small parcels in Europe (and the United States) to sell very cheap items directly to consumers. President Donald Trump signed an executive order to increase the duties on such small parcels in July.
Turkey eliminated its own duty-free allowance for shipments valued at less than $35 in early January, with the new rules set to take effect next month. The new regulations will likely have a profound effect on companies like Temu and Shein, which have seen explosive growth in Turkey.
Turkish business owners and unions have been complaining about the damage to their own business models from the flood of cheap Chinese merchandise that does not always meet the same product standards that local businesses are held to.
Turkey Today noted that Temu established its Istanbul office in June 2025, under pressure from the Turkish Trade Ministry to have a physical presence in the country. Temu sought to put down roots by “onboarding” Turkish manufacturers, allowing them to sell their wares through Temu’s digital marketplace alongside Chinese goods.
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