• Temu was subject to four-day inspection at Irish premises
• Chinese e-commerce platform risks fine or periodic penalties
• Comes in the context of widespread China non-cooperation issues

Temu is set to get formal charges from the European Commission (EC) for obstructing an unannounced inspection of its premises in Ireland under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR), according to three sources familiar with the matter.

The Chinese e-commerce giant is expected to be handed down a “statement of grounds” this week, detailing possible obstruction breaches, the sources said. A meeting between the Commission and Temu on the matter is set to take place tomorrow (28 July), the first two sources said.

This procedure takes place in accordance with Article 17 of the FSR, the first source added.

This legal provision details non-cooperation practices that could result in fines or periodic penalty payments. These practices include when a company “fails or refuses to provide a complete answer on facts relating to the subject-matter and purpose of an inspection”.

Temu was subject to a four-day FSR inspection in December 2025, as reported by this news service. The EC had initially prepared for the dawn raid to last two weeks.

During the inspection, the Commission was unable to access some information and could only take screenshots related to it, according to a fourth source familiar with the matter.

Since then, the Commission has followed up on this effort by issuing two extensive requests for information (RFIs) to the company, the first source said.

The EC’s decision to issue a “statement of grounds” comes in the context of widespread issues of non-cooperation by Chinese companies in relation to FSR investigations.

Chinese security equipment company Nuctech brought the Commission to court, alleging that the company would have breached Chinese law had it provided some of the information requested by the EC during the inspections at its European premises.

In May, China’s Ministry of Justice (MoJ) escalated these tensions with an order for Nuctech not to cooperate with the EC’s FSR probe. This news service reported that the decision was triggered by RFIs that the EC sent to Chinese banks.

Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Goldwind has also challenged EC requirements to disclose information about foreign subsidies it may have received. The company sought interim relief from these requests, but the EU’s General Court did not grant it.

The first source said that Temu’s situation has some similarities with the cases of Nuctech and Goldwind. The EC might seek to use Temu to send a strong message and clarify its approach to possible non-cooperation cases involving Chinese companies, this source added.

The European Commission declined to comment. Temu did not reply to requests for comment.