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TikTok ban could harm Amazon sellers looking for alternatives

In March, the U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill that could force ByteDance to divest TikTok or face a ban in U.S. app stores.

Much of the related discussion and debate has centered around American data security and speech rights, but a potential move also highlights something else: TikTok is growing its focus on e-commerce, but the interplay of tech giants and geopolitics is squeezing smaller merchants. In interviews with TechCrunch, sellers from Shenzhen — the Chinese megacity that’s a major hub for Amazon merchants — said they felt a collective sense of frustration over rising geopolitical tensions and “helplessness” about a potential TikTok ban. On one hand, the company — even as it faces a potential U.S. ban or forced sale — continues to roll out new e-commerce features, such as a new video shopping format it previewed at a conference this month.

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