Tue, 20 May 2025

Tue, 20 May 2025 EU plans €2 fee on small parcels in hit to Shein and Temu

The tax will affect billions of packages sent to people's homes which mainly come from China at the moment.

* The EU has proposed a two-euro flat fee on small parcels sent directly to people's homes, mainly from China.
* Packages worth less than 150 euros will no longer be customs-free and online marketplaces like Temu and Shein will have to pay the fee.
* Last year, 4.6 billion such parcels entered the EU, with over 90% coming from China, creating a huge workload for customs staff.
* The proposed fee is meant to compensate for the cost of checking goods entering the bloc.
* Some of the revenue generated may go towards the EU budget.
* Parcels sent directly to consumers will be taxed at 2 euros each, while those sent to warehouses will be taxed at 0.50 euros each.
* The move comes after the US introduced tariffs on Chinese goods and China's e-commerce giants had feared they would flood the European market with cheap goods.
* European retailers have complained about unfair competition from overseas competitors who don't comply with EU product standards.
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