The explosion of international e-commerce brands is leading to a sharp rise in product safety warnings.
Warnings issued by the US Consumer Product Safety Commission reached a record high of 63 last year, according to a new analysis from the Public Interest Research Group Education Fund.
The US Consumer Product Safety Commission issues warnings when companies don’t voluntarily comply with recalls for hazardous it deems hazardous.
Last year’s figure is up dramatically from 38 in 2023 and 12 in 2022, according to the PIRG analysis. There were fewer than 10 warnings combined from 2015 to 2021, it added.
So, what’s contributing to the rise?
“In a word, China,” acting CPSC’s chairman, Peter Feldman, told PIRG.
Two-thirds of the products that received warnings in 2024 came to the US from Chinese companies, the PIRG report found.
“The United States is facing a flood of Chinese consumer products that violate US safety laws,” Feldman said. “When CPSC identifies illegal Chinese goods, the manufacturer is, more often than not, unreachable, unfindable, or uncooperative.”
In other words, a warning is an indication that safety officials are not able to make progress with a company concerning a recall.
Some of the hazardous products included a foldable step stool that could collapse or tip over, a line of e-bike batteries prone to overheating or catching fire, infant loungers that posed a risk of suffocation or entrapment, and bike helmets that didn’t meet US safety standards.
Many of the products that received warnings were sold by third parties on Amazon’s and Walmart’s marketplaces. In at least one instance each, both retailers agreed to contact customers about affected products.
An Amazon spokesperson told BI that all products offered on its site are required to comply with applicable laws and regulations. The company also notifies customers of product updates through a dedicated page in page in their Amazon accounts called “Your Recalls and Product Safety Alerts.”
The PIRG analysis also found two items with warnings that were sold on Shein’s website.
Among the recalled products, the report found that those sold exclusively online were twice as likely to violate a US safety standard than those sold in physical stores.
Interestingly, while eight products were recalled that were exclusively sold on Temu, the PIRG report also noted that no Temu items received warnings last year because all companies involved cooperated with the recall procedure.
