A coalition of thousands of French retailers has sued the Chinese fast fashion retailer Shein, accusing it of unfair competition, according to the French Retail Council, a move that escalated a backlash against the company in France this week.
The class action suit, filed on Wednesday in a commercial court in southern France, was brought on by 12 federations and 100 large French brands. It accuses the company of poaching consumers over the last five years by using false promotions to entice shoppers and selling items that failed to comply with French consumer and safety standards. The companies are seeking up to 3 billion euros in damages for economic harm.
“This unfair competition represents a systemic threat to our businesses,” said Bernard Cherqui, the president of the French retail federation. “We are facing an extremely powerful organization.”
Shein did not immediately respond to a request for comment. In a statement to Agence-France Presse, the company said the accusation was “unfounded,” adding that it was “regrettable that these actors are prioritizing legal confrontation over constructive dialogue.”
Shein was already facing an investigation by the French government after an inquiry earlier this month found that “childlike” sex dolls and certain categories of weapons were being sold on the company’s French marketplace platform, stoking nationwide furor. Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu ordered authorities to shut down access to Shein’s website for two days, during which customs agents blocked Shein packages at Charles de Gaulle airport for inspections.
Eighty percent of the 200,000 packages searched were found to be noncompliant with French and European regulatory standards. Those items will be used in a body of evidence at a hearing scheduled for next week at the Paris Judicial Court, which will rule on a government request to suspend Shein’s platform in France.
Shein previously said it had immediately removed all illegal items from its French website, including dolls the size of little girls that the nation’s consumer fraud agency said were of a “child pornography nature.”
The French government has asked the European Union to open an investigation into the Chinese e-commerce site, saying the platform is also in breach of European rules. Last week, European regulators announced that a tax would be imposed on small parcels arriving in the European Union starting in January, a move that will especially hit Shein and Temu, another Chinese online retailer.
The separate lawsuit brought this week by French retailers adds to the momentum against the Chinese online giant, which gained steam shortly after it opened its first physical store in November in Paris. Following raucous street protests, plans to open more Shein outlets in France have been delayed.
The lawsuit involves an unexpected coalition of French department stores and clothing brands, mass-market retailers and online shops. The French supermarket giant Carrefour and fashion brand Promod were among the 100 brands joining to seek compensation for what they say are damages suffered in the last half-decade from unfair competition by Shein.
Liz Alderman is The Times’s chief European business correspondent, writing about economic, social and policy developments around Europe.
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