According to data from the European Commission, 4.6 billion shipments of products with a cost below €150 entered the European market in 2024 (approximately 12 million packages per day). This represents a true avalanche of cardboard and plastic which, beyond the logistical and environmental challenges it poses, constitutes a serious threat to the competitiveness of companies within the community.
Essentially, this is because these imports have been exempt from tariffs.
More accurately, they had been.
In the month of December, we informed you in advance of the European Union’s intention to begin applying a fixed fee of three euros per product to shipments with a value below 150 euros arriving from outside the EU. This fee, which primarily impacts low-cost products arriving mainly from China, was seen as a defensive measure by Brussels in response to the increasing prominence that gigantic mass-marketplaces such as Shein, Temu, or Aliexpress have been gaining in the European market. These low-value products are only competitive due to their extremely low prices, and would be highly sensitive to the implementation of a three-euro fee.
Now, the EU has officially approved this measure and has announced the exact date it will take effect: July 1, 2026.
One of the main points of confusion that arose when this topic was first discussed related to the concept upon which the fee would be applied. Thus, contrary to earlier reports, the EU has clarified that the three euros will not be applied to each package, but rather to each product category contained within that package. The requirement for its application is that the total value of the package must be less than the aforementioned 150 euros.
That is to say, and following the example provided by the community body in its official statement: “A package contains a silk shirt and two wool shirts. Therefore, because of their different tariff classifications, the package contains two distinct items and six euros in customs duties must be paid” (Three for the silk shirt and three for the wool shirts). Continuing with this example, if the shipment only included four wool shirts, the fee would be just three euros.
In any case, it is important to emphasize that this constitutes a provisional measure, which shall be applied from July 1, 2026 to July 1, 2028, and may be extended “as appropriate.” Once the new EU Customs Data Hub becomes operational, this provisional tariff will be replaced by the standard customs duties, which apply to packages of any value.
Indeed, this customs data center, or EU Customs Data Hub, is a key element of the EU’s ambitious customs reform. Once implemented, this center will enable the application of the permanent customs regime, providing customs authorities with a comprehensive overview of goods entering and leaving the Union. Negotiations between the Council and the European Parliament regarding the reform are ongoing.
Finally, the Commission has indicated that there is a separate ongoing negotiation regarding another handling fee. This fee is not intended to level the competitive playing field, but rather to compensate for the increasing costs that customs authorities incur in overseeing the immense flow of eCommerce packages.
As previously mentioned, this measure is closely aligned with the current context of eCommerce in Europe, and will primarily affect those sellers who operate with low-cost models, minimal margins, and massive shipment volumes. In such cases, a small additional charge of three euros could seriously impact their competitiveness. In any event, as is always the case with the imposition of tariff measures, it is important to remember that any fee of this nature also affects consumers, who have widely embraced the arrival of marketplaces such as Shein or Temu. Despite the repeated controversies surrounding these platforms, both have consistently ranked among the most downloaded apps in different countries.
In the official text published by the EU, the motivations of the Union are clearly explained:
“In a digitized customs environment, where electronic data for all imported goods is available regardless of their value, maintaining the duty exemption introduced to avoid a disproportionate administrative burden for customs authorities, businesses, and individuals is no longer justified. At the same time, considering the significant volume of low-value imports, it has become necessary to more efficiently protect the financial interests of the Union and its Member States. Therefore, it is necessary to eliminate the exemption based on the threshold.”
“Given the challenges presented by the large volume of small packages entering the Union, both for consumers and European businesses, it is important to expedite the removal of the threshold-based exemption. However, pending the adoption of the new Union Customs Code, which is expected to establish a new centralized Union IT infrastructure essential for the effective calculation and reporting of customs debt, a temporary transitional measure should be introduced with regard to all amounts referred to in Article 1 of Regulation (EC) No 1186/2009, to facilitate the practical implementation of the removal of said exemption.”
The EU anticipates that this new system will have a positive impact both for the EU budget and for national public finances.
Image: Gemini
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