Europe imposes a fixed tariff of three euros for small packages

For years China has benefited from a tariff exemption that allowed packages of less than 150 euros to not be subject to tax. Platforms like Shein, Temu or AliExpress have done their best for years and users have benefited from it, but on July 1, 2026, what was happening will end. The EU already warned that this exemption had its days numberedand it will do so in a few days. The consequence: everything we buy in those stores will be a little more expensive.

The de minimis doctrine. In November 2025 the European Council agreed eliminate the exemption for packages with a value of less than 150 euros, which were not forced to pay taxes at customs. This exemption was very similar to the one followed in the US until not long ago. with the “de minimis” doctrine.

Three euros to start. The new terms They come into force on July 1, 2026, and will force customs to force any product to pay taxes from the first euro. To accelerate the implementation of this change, the Council agreed to apply fixed tariffs of three euros on packages worth less than 150 euros when they enter the European Union. In 2028 the Customs Data Center will be launched and the fixed rate will end. Instead, percentage tariffs will be applied.

Be careful with mixing products, taxes go up. These taxes are charged per product category, not per package. So, if a package contains two toys, a coat and three bottles of shampoo, taxes are calculated by category. In this specific case there are three categories, so at three euros per category, the charge would be nine euros.

Chinese bargains will no longer be so bargains. The European Union thus nips in the bud a mechanism that Chinese e-commerce platforms had taken advantage of to massively sell low-value products. Consumers knew this and have also taken great advantage of these advantages by frequently buying in stores like Temu, Shein or AliExpress, but now prices will rise because these Chinese stores will pass the tax on to users.

The EU will raise big. In the EU they defend that this protects local commerce, is also a measure against fraud and adds security for consumers. All of this is undoubtedly true, but there is another obvious reason to end the exemption: revenue. It is expected These measures will earn the EU nearly 1,000 million euros a year.

Too many minipacks. According to the European Commission, packages with a value of less than 150 euros represented 97.9% of the packages distributed in the European Union. That is to say: the vast majority of what arrived were small purchases with an average value of 8.86 euros. Although there were many packages, adding the value of all of them only represented 2.1% of all the money that foreign trade moves with the EU. Customs were inundated with millions of individual packages of little value.

And many lied. The Hellenic Confederation of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (ESEE) estimated in the Greek middle Tovima that about 65% of packages declare a lower value than the real value to avoid paying taxes at customs. The problem, of course, is inspecting millions of packages to confirm that the declared value is correct.

Now Shein and Temu’s “dump” will be another. These exemptions had turned Europe into a massive destination for Chinese production capacity and its massive exports. The new regulation should mitigate the problem, and now who can become that new “dumping ground” for low-value Chinese products? it’s uk.

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