The EU is preparing a crackdown on the growing flood of packages from Asian online retailers such as Temu and Shein, following a big increase in ecommerce that largely evades EU custom checks.
Measures under consideration include a new tax on ecommerce platforms’ revenue and an administrative handling fee per item that would make most shipments less competitive, according to five people familiar with the discussions.
European trade commissioner Maroš Šefčovič has said about 4bn lower-value parcels will be flown to the EU this year, almost triple the number in 2022. The sheer volume and the fact that they are under the €150 threshold for custom duties means most are not checked, driving a rise in imports of dangerous goods such as toxic toys.