cross-posted from: https://scribe.disroot.org/post/6078147
European Union finance ministers agreed on Friday to set a 3 euro ($3.52) customs duty on low-value parcels arriving in the bloc, part of efforts to crack down on cheap Chinese e-commerce imports such as from online retailers Shein and Temu.
The duty will apply from July 1, 2026, and will be in place until a permanent solution is found to eliminate the “de minimis” duties exemption for online purchases below 150 euros, the EU’s Council of its 27 governments said in a statement.
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The bloc was due to remove the exemption in 2028 as part of an overhaul of its customs system, but pressure to act faster has grown amid concerns about Chinese goods being dumped in Europe.
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The number of low-value e-commerce packages arriving in the bloc doubled last year to 4.6 billion, over 90% of them from China. Imports this year are set to be even higher.
The EU is also considering a separate handling fee, which the European Commission has proposed should be set at 2 euros per parcel. It is not clear when it would be imposed.
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How about canceling the subsidies for shipping? It is not China who is responsible for the cheap shipping of parcels from China to Europe. How about actually making shipping inside the countries cheaper?
This would actually strengthen the local market opposed to just weakening the outside
Exactly right. Why can I order a $1 item from China and get it put on planes and trucks for free, but shipping domestically costs 15€ and “internationally” which is literally 5 hours by rail and trucks over 30€?
Is that why buying something from within the bloc can be stupid expensive but amazon and china have it at pennies
Yes, China is still officially classified as a developing country and so gets cheaper postal rates. Also the Chinese government fully covers the export fees for small items, that’s why you can order a bag of zip ties for 99 cents and they come all the way from Shenzhen.
That sounds crazy to me.
Yeah but how is the local market going to ship their products from China then?
This will cost the European citizens and big corporations will make money instead
I know that it is an issue but adding regulation on regulations and fees, duties and tariffs won’t make EU stronger.
It’s a temporary solution to a long standing problem. EU is not a production continent and does not want to be one. We need countries that do
Yes, but we also need to prevent people from buying cheap shit from China that’s either dangerous or it will break after a few uses.
This helps that.
Not when “domestic” online retailers import the exact same crap and sell it at an insane markup, which is what they’re been doing for quite some time now.
I refused to buy from those cheap Chinese sites for a long time until I realized that in many cases I’d only be cutting out the middle man.
Not when “domestic” online retailers import the exact same crap
This is a myth, it’s not true.
Chinese platforms -as well as all Chinese companies in all sectors- employ their own supply chains. Products from Temu, Shein, AliExpress contain, among others, toxic chemicals at far higher levels than what is allowed in the EU or by any Western standards. Companies like Temu or Shein fail to meet legal standard regarding product safety and environmental and consumer protection. There are many reports from multiple independent sources. I don’t understand why these platforms aren’t shut down completely. They are a threat to your health. And the working conditions in these Chinese sweatshops are desastrous.
This is also why China has been heavily opposing any transparency laws of global supply chains. It’s a closed shop. If Chinese companies like BYD or CATL built battery factories abroad, they even send their own workers. And they work under slave-like conditions as Brazil’s authorities revealed this year at a Brazilian BYD plant:
[Brazilian authorities] said it had identified “163 workers who appeared to be in slave-like conditions”. … workers were kept in “an alarming situation of precariousness” and subjected to “degrading working conditions.”
“In one of the accommodations, workers slept on beds without mattresses and had no wardrobes for their personal effects, which were mixed together with food supplies,” the ministry said, adding that there was only one toilet for every 31 workers.
The ministry also said that it suspected that “forced labor” had occurred, as workers’ passports had been confiscated and 60% of their salary had been retained. The statement said that those who quit their jobs would be forced to pay the company for their airfare from China and their return ticket.
The working situation is similar at Chinese suppliers working for Temu, Shein & Co.
And Western shops can’t sell such toxic products as they would be closed immediately if they did. This alone is a reason why Temu and Shein and all others that don’t play by the rules should be banned immediately and forever.
[Edit typos.]
We are a consumist culture with all products.both Chinese and European
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China will pay! /s
I wonder if this will allow only to consumers or will also target dropshippers. Because it the citizen has to pay more while dropshippers still enjoy their shitty practices, it doesn’t look great…
As with all other tariffs, you can assume there will be a direct passthrough to consumers.
Yeah, while I understand the move, it feels like an open road to go back to making a fortune for the drop shippers which pisses me off. Also I’m not at ease with the fact that it explicitly target only China
I mean, you could always just continue to shop directly from China, using something like AliExpress, and leave the dropshippers hanging.
The tankie triad is gonna be upset.
Russia will be OK with it, it just makes stuff in EU more expensive, they like that. China will be OK, it’s not like there is another China that we will buy our shit from. I don’t know what the third country you mean, North Korea? The US? They will like it, it’s tariffs, tariffs are always good apparently
