In the past 24 hours, the cross-border e-commerce field has been changing rapidly, with simultaneous tightening in the three dimensions of compliance, risk control and platform strategy.
The CEOs of Coupang and Amazon were involved in regulatory storms, highlighting new compliance pressures on leading platforms.
At the same time, Temu and TikTok Shop are accelerating the professionalization and standardization of international business by improving product standards and enforcing official performance.
Domestically, with the full implementation of the value-added tax law and the emergence of the power of “penetrating” supervision of the fourth phase of the Golden Tax, the cross-border e-commerce compliance window has been completely closed, and the industry is moving from “barbaric growth” to “compliance survival.”
1. Platform core dynamics and in-depth analysis
1.
Coupang: The CEO is under police investigation, and the data leakage case continues to ferment
The data leakage crisis of South Korean e-commerce giant Coupang continues to escalate, putting direct legal pressure on the company’s senior management.
On the afternoon of January 30, Coupang interim CEO Harold Rogers came to the case as a suspect for the first time to be investigated by the police for allegedly destroying evidence after a large-scale personal information leak.
The police task force started questioning the CEO about a month after it was established, which means that the investigation is getting to the core.
This incident has a far-reaching impact, not only severely weakening the stability and credibility of the company’s management, but also becoming a sensitive issue in the economic and trade frictions between the United States and South Korea due to diplomatic pressure from US Vice President Vance.
For cross-border sellers, the short-term operational stability and long-term policy continuity of the Coupang platform are full of uncertainties.
2. Amazon: Risk control has been fully upgraded, and tax compliance has become a life-or-death situation
Amazon has deeply cleaned up the seller ecosystem from both platform rules and external supervision, and compliance costs and risks have increased unprecedentedly.
Starting from February 12, 2026, Amazon will gradually tighten the review sharing rules, allowing only compliant variants of the “same category and the same attributes” to share reviews. The large-scale illegal variants will be “forced to be demolished” in advance, ending the gray game of relying on zombie listings and illegal merging variants to obtain reviews.
In 2026, Amazon’s European investment policies will be comprehensively tightened. New store registration requires proof of address and brand authorization. It will set higher thresholds for corporate capital and revenue scale. The risk control system will be upgraded. Violation records will be permanently retained. Buyer accounts and evaluation environment monitoring will be stricter.
As Amazon reports seller data to the tax authorities on a quarterly basis, sellers who avoid historical tax risks through “subject change” have suffered a devastating blow. Nearly 900 stores that have centralized changes to their subjects have their funds frozen or even closed. The platform clearly does not support cross-country/region subject changes. The “penetrating” supervision of the fourth phase of the Golden Tax has left no room for traditional operations such as “two sets of internal and external accounts”.
3. Temu: Global expansion encounters legal and compliance challenges, strengthens product safety commitment
Temu faces legal obstruction from overseas local giants during its rapid expansion, and at the same time proactively improves product safety standards to respond to global regulations.
The competition between Temu and Argentina’s local giant Mercado Libre has escalated to the legal level. Mercado Libre accused Temu of violating the country’s Commercial Fairness Act through “extreme discounts” and “misleading gamification methods.” The outcome of this case may set an important precedent for the regulation of fair competition in the Latin American market.
On January 30, Temu announced the signing of the “Japan Product Safety Commitment”. This voluntary initiative goes beyond legal requirements and improves the platform’s product safety level by educating sellers and establishing a risk product removal mechanism. It is a key measure to deal with strict global product quality supervision.
4. TikTok Shop: Logistics rules have changed dramatically, and resources are tilted towards the “super head”
TikTok
Shop America promotes the transformation of the cross-border e-commerce ecosystem towards standardization and branding through mandatory unification of logistics rules and high concentration of traffic resources.
Starting from February 1, 2026, the U.S. station will implement a “definite invitation white list” system for cross-border direct mail, which is limited to the use of a few designated service providers. From February 25 to March 31, the seller’s self-shipping model will be completely terminated, and official logistics channels will be mandatory to solve problems such as uneven third-party logistics service levels and false orders, and establish unified performance standards.
The platform has invested billions of resources to launch the “TOP Plan”, focusing on supporting “super leading” merchants with annual sales of tens of millions of dollars, including 3% commission reduction, 1,000 free short video materials, exclusive traffic exposure and logistics guarantees, etc. This has made it significantly more difficult for small and medium-sized sellers to obtain traffic.
2. Domestic New Finance and Taxation Deals and Industry Trends
1. VAT legislation and supervision have been fully implemented, and the industry has entered the era of “governing taxation by numbers”
VAT legislation and supervision have been fully implemented. Annual taxable sales exceed 5 million yuan for 12 consecutive months. The effective date is the first day of the current period when the standard is exceeded. The buffer period is cancelled, and sales after inspection and correction are restored to the period when the business occurred. Historical hidden income may trigger “instant upgrades.”
The “pay-for-export” route is blocked. The “Regulations on the Implementation of the Value-Added Tax Law” requires export agents to report the true owner information. Goods without compliance declaration certificates may be deemed to be sold domestically and require tax and fines.
The industry differentiates into different compliance paths based on the scale of sales. Companies with annual sales of less than 1.2 million will focus on corporate income tax, companies with annual sales of 1.2 million to 5 million will adopt the 9810 model, and companies with annual sales exceeding 5 million will establish a standardized tax refund or SV model compliance system.
2. Cross-border trade facilitation measures are promoted nationwide, benefiting compliant sellers
The General Administration of Customs has promoted 25 cross-border trade facilitation measures nationwide and implemented the policy of “tax refund upon departure and re-accounting after sale” for cross-border e-commerce exports to overseas warehouses, shortening the tax refund cycle for compliant sellers and easing financial pressure, which are policy dividends accompanying strong supervision.
3. Industry trend: Compliance capabilities become core competitiveness
With the fading of North American tariff dividends, tightening of platform rules, and penetration of domestic tax supervision, the model that relies solely on low prices and distribution of goods is unsustainable.
The competition in 2026 is a comprehensive competition of compliance capabilities, brand strength and supply chain resilience. Compliance has become the core “moat” for obtaining platform resources, enjoying policy dividends, and achieving long-term development.
