The European Union has introduced new fees on low-value e-commerce imports from China, marking its first major step to tackle what it says is unfair competition from online retailers such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress.
The charges, which came into force on Wednesday, apply to parcels that previously entered the bloc duty-free if they were worth less than €150. Instead of charging per parcel, the new system applies a fee to each customs classification within a shipment.
A parcel containing three different types of goods will incur a €9 charge, while one containing several identical items, such as dresses or toys, will cost €3.
EU officials say the long-standing exemption no longer reflects today's trading environment, as online shopping has transformed the volume of low-value imports entering Europe.
"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," said Dirk Gotink, the European Parliament's lead lawmaker on customs reform.
"The exemption was abused and misused on an industrial scale to create a competitive advantage at the expense of EU businesses."
The number of low-value e-commerce parcels entering the EU has risen sharply, increasing from 1.4 billion in 2022 to 5.8 billion in 2025.
Industry experts believe the new charges will reduce the volume of online goods arriving in Europe by air, while consumers are likely to face higher prices as retailers pass on at least some of the additional costs.
Derek Lossing, an e-commerce and air cargo consultant at Cirrus Global Advisors, said shipments into the EU could fall by between 10% and 35% in the coming weeks.
"When the U.S. 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," he said.
The U.S. ended its own duty exemption for Chinese imports earlier this year, adding pressure on low-cost online marketplaces.
The €3 fee is a temporary measure and is expected to be replaced by category-specific duties when the EU's new Customs Authority begins operating in July 2028.
Shein has already expanded its warehouse capacity in Poland to ship more products into the EU in bulk ahead of the changes. The company and Temu did not comment on the new measures.
AliExpress said products affected by the rules would be labelled to show when duties and VAT are included in the price, while customers buying other imported goods would see a breakdown of charges before completing their purchase.
Amazon said 97% of its EU orders last year were fulfilled from warehouses within the bloc. For products shipped from outside the EU, customers will also be be shown any import charges before checking out.
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