EU Officially Imposes ?3 Fee on Low-Value E-commerce Parcels Starting July 1st

[Ebrun Original] July 2nd News: Yesterday, the European Union officially began imposing a ?3 fee per item on low-value e-commerce imports from China, in a move aimed at curbing what it terms "unfair competition" from cross-border e-commerce platforms. Previously, such goods entered the EU duty-free.

This measure deals another blow to platforms like Shein, Temu, and AliExpress, which leveraged this tariff exemption to sell goods at ultra-low prices, fueling rapid growth but also drawing criticism from EU retailers and policymakers.

The United States, a major market for these platforms, terminated its "de minimis" exemption for imports from China in May this year and will end the exemption for all imports by the end of August.

Under the new EU rules, the fee is calculated per Harmonized System (HS) code within each parcel.

For example, a parcel containing three different types of items will incur a total fee of ?9, while a parcel containing multiple items of the same type, like several dresses or toys, will only incur a single ?3 fee.

The low-value import duty exemption has been in place for decades, with the current ?150 threshold introduced in 2008.

However, the volume of e-commerce parcels entering the EU under this exemption has surged, from 1.4 billion in 2022 to a projected 5.8 billion in 2025.

Dirk Gotink, the EU lawmaker responsible for the customs reform file in the European Parliament, stated in an interview:

“This policy made sense in the old trade landscape, but that landscape is gone. E-commerce – especially from China – has completely changed the game. This exemption has been massively abused and misused to gain a competitive advantage at the expense of EU businesses.”

Derek Lossing, an e-commerce and air cargo consultant and head of Cirrus Global Advisors, estimates that e-commerce air cargo shipments into the EU could drop by 10% to 35% in the weeks following the fee's implementation, potentially impacting global air cargo volumes.

In response to these changes, Shein has been actively preparing, expanding its warehouse space in Wroc?aw, Poland, and shipping more products to the EU in bulk. However, neither Shein nor Temu responded to requests for comment.

Additionally, it is important to note that the ?3 fee is positioned as a temporary measure, expected to be replaced by category-specific tariffs on July 1, 2028, when the new EU Customs Authority is scheduled to become operational.

The industry widely expects the fee to lead to higher consumer prices, as platforms are likely to pass on at least part of the new cost.

AliExpress, in a statement, said product listings will carry a "Price includes duties and VAT" label where applicable, and for other items, customers will see a breakdown of import charges before completing their purchase.

Amazon, which launched its own ultra-low-cost service 'Amazon Haul' following the rapid growth of Temu and Shein, stated that last year, 97% of its shipments in the EU came from warehouses within the bloc, and for items shipped from outside the EU, customers similarly see import charges displayed before checkout.

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