Sources: ft.com
Cheap products from various Chinese e-shops have put EU local stores and EU online shops to their knees. The leading platforms the EU’s new measures target are China’s online marketplaces, Temu, AliExpress, and Shein. Last year, 2.3bn items went past duty-free and declared below €150, according to the EU Commission. E-commerce imports have doubled yearly, topping 350,000 items in April — or almost two deliveries per household.
The provisions would apply to any online retailer shipping to EU customers directly from outside the bloc. Another possible measure would be making it compulsory for large platforms to register for VAT payments online, regardless of their value. Since 2021, consumers have paid VAT regardless of their value for most packages sent to the EU, but they are duty-free. The options will be put forward in preparation for the new commission, which will take office later this year.
However, getting EU countries to agree could be difficult, given that the new regime would increase the workload of already overstretched customs officials. The number of dangerous products reported by EU countries jumped more than 50% from 2022 to 2023 to more than 3,400. Cosmetics, toys, electrical appliances, and clothes were among the products with the most safety issues. In February, 19 toys from Temu were found to be non-compliant with EU standards, while 18 presented a real safety risk for children. Temu stated that “all 19 product listings are no longer available on our EU website”.
Temu said its growth was not dependent on cheap items and that it was open to any policy adjustments made by legislators that align with consumer interests, as long as these policies were fair. AliExpress said that it was working with legislators to ensure that it was and would continue to be in a compliant position in the EU market. Shein also noted that it fully supported efforts to reform customs duties.
