By Philip Blenkinsop and Helen Reid
BRUSSELS (Reuters) -European finance ministers agreed on Thursday to bring forward to next year customs duties on low-value parcels arriving in the bloc to crack down on cheap Chinese e-commerce imports, in a move set to hit Chinese online retailers Shein and Temu.
The agreement to introduce duties “as soon as possible in 2026” by finance ministers’ meeting in Brussels sets up negotiations with the European Parliament, whose approval is also required.
The European Union is trying to accelerate the imposition of fees on low-value parcels entering the bloc in a bid to crack down on cheap Chinese e-commerce imports as concern grows over Chinese goods being dumped in Europe.
European Commissioner for Trade Maros Sefcovic had proposed to the ministers that the “de minimis” duties exemption for online purchases below 150 euros ($175) be removed in the first quarter of 2026, two years earlier than planned. It should be replaced with a “simplified temporary customs fee”, he said.
In 2023, the European Commission proposed removing the exemption, but only from 2028, when a broader overhaul of the EU’s customs regime is due to take effect and the de minimis exemption will more formally be abolished.
Online platforms like Shein, Temu, AliExpress and Amazon Haul, which send products from Chinese factories directly to shoppers, offer rock-bottom prices partly thanks to the customs waiver, hurting European rivals.
“European industries, particularly retailers, have repeatedly underlined that this distortion of competition be removed without delay,” Sefcovic wrote.
German online retailer Zalando, among those pushing the EU to act, said in a statement that the removal of the exemption should be fast-tracked, and an EU-wide handling fee could “play a complementary role” in the meantime.
MOVE TO HIT SHEIN, TEMU
Shein declined to comment, while Temu, AliExpress, and Amazon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Shein is facing legal proceedings in France over the sale of child-like sex dolls on its platform.
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, and the Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, is facing pressure from EU companies to stem that flow more quickly.
“We’ve already received more parcels than in the entire year of 2024, and Black Friday and Christmas are just around the corner,” EU lawmaker Dirk Gotink, chief negotiator on the new customs legislation, said in a statement welcoming the move to scrap the customs waiver faster.
The U.S. has scrapped its own “de minimis” policy that allowed duty-free entry to parcels worth less than $800, leading to concerns that cheap Chinese imports would divert more to Europe.
There is also added urgency as individual EU countries have moved to introduce national handling fees.
Romania has proposed a 25 lei ($5.73) fee on low-value packages, while Italy is working on a tax by the end of the year to protect its fashion industry, its industry minister said on Wednesday.
RETAILERS WARN AGAINST ASSORTMENT OF NATIONAL FEES
European retailers and wholesalers’ lobby group EuroCommerce have warned that an assortment of different national fees risks undermining the EU single market. The Commission has proposed a 2 euro fee, but it is not clear when it would be imposed.
Sefcovic said he welcomed the backing from EU finance ministers because European business, particularly retailers, had repeatedly demanded the removal without delay of “this distortion of competition”.
Dutch Finance Minister Eelco Heinen told reporters it was time to “get a grip” on cheap Chinese parcels flooding the European market, while Greek Finance Minister Kyriakos Pierrakakis said in a statement that his country backed the immediate imposition of tariffs on small parcels.
($1 = 0.8575 euros; 4.3595 lei)
(Reporting by Jan Strupczewski, Inti Landaurno in Brussels, Helen Reid in London, Angeliki Koutatou in Athens. Writing by Philip Blenkinsop. Editing by Conor Humphries, Ed Osmond and Mark Potter)
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