The European Union has taken its first major step to curb what it describes as unfair competition from Chinese online retailers by introducing a €3 fee on low-value e-commerce imports from platforms such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress that previously entered the bloc duty-free.
The new charge, which took effect on Wednesday, marks another setback for the fast-growing online retailers after the United States earlier this year scrapped its “de minimis” duty exemption for imports from China in May and for all imports at the end of August.
Under the new EU rules, the €3 fee will apply to each customs classification within a shipment. A parcel containing three different categories of products will attract a total fee of €9, while parcels containing multiple items within the same product category, such as dresses or toys, will incur a single €3 charge.
The European Union said the measure was necessary following a sharp increase in low-value parcels entering the bloc. Duty exemptions for imports valued below €150 have existed for decades, with the current threshold introduced in 2008. However, the number of e-commerce parcels imported under the exemption has risen dramatically from 1.4 billion in 2022 to 5.8 billion in 2025.
Dirk Gotink, the European Parliament lawmaker leading customs reform, said the previous system had become outdated because of the rapid expansion of Chinese e-commerce platforms.
“In a different trading world this made a lot of sense, but that world doesn’t exist anymore. It’s been turned on its head by e-commerce, especially from China,” Gotink said in an interview.
He added that the exemption had been widely exploited to undercut European businesses.
“The exemption was abused and misused on an industrial scale to create a competitive advantage at the expense of EU businesses.”
Industry experts expect the new fees to reduce the volume of online goods entering Europe by air.
Derek Lossing, an e-commerce and air cargo consultant at Cirrus Global Advisors, said air shipments of e-commerce goods into the EU could fall by between 10 and 35 per cent in the weeks following the introduction of the charges, with wider implications for the global air cargo market.
“The question is how effective the platforms are in pivoting to other markets,” Lossing said.
“When the US ended de minimis, Europe was a really good alternative that platforms could shift to – but now there’s not a really clear alternative to Europe.”
Lossing said the platforms would likely seek to minimise the impact on consumers by shifting some of the additional costs to suppliers.
“Platforms may pressure suppliers to absorb some of the additional costs to limit price increases for consumers and protect profitability.”
The €3 charge is a temporary measure and will remain in place until July 1, 2028, when it will be replaced by category-specific duties as part of a broader customs reform coinciding with the launch of the new EU Customs Authority.
Consumers are expected to bear at least part of the additional costs as online retailers pass on the new import charges.
Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress, owned by Alibaba, said product listings would display a “Price includes duties and VAT” label where applicable. For products not covered by the label, customers will be shown a breakdown of import charges before completing their purchases.
Shein has been preparing for the policy change by expanding warehouse capacity in Wroclaw, Poland, and increasing bulk shipments into the European Union. Neither Shein nor Temu responded to requests for comment.
Amazon, which launched its low-cost Amazon Haul service in response to the rapid growth of Temu and Shein, said 97 per cent of its EU shipments last year were fulfilled from warehouses within the bloc. The company added that customers purchasing products shipped from outside the EU would also see applicable import charges before checking out.
