Editor’s Note
**Editor’s Note:** The EU’s new tariff policy, effective tomorrow, imposes a flat €3 duty per product category on low-cost imports previously exempt up to €150. This change will notably raise costs for Chinese goods like textiles and accessories, directly impacting consumer prices on everyday items.
EU Tariff Hike Raises Import Costs for Chinese Goods
Berlin – Starting tomorrow, the EU is introducing new tariffs that will significantly increase online shopping prices: On low-cost imported goods such as decorative items, jewelry, or textiles—which were previously duty-free up to a value of 150 euros—a flat 3-euro import duty per product category will now apply. A phone case, a pair of jeans, a lipstick: that adds up to 9 euros in additional customs fees.
eCommerce Market to Shrink by Two-Thirds
“The EU’s decision will cause the volume of over 5 billion small parcels per year to collapse by two-thirds,” predicts Roman Koidl, CEO of Berlin-based customs specialist eClear. The company offers Chinese marketplaces a fully automated solution for all customs and VAT processes along the supply chain.
With the new customs regulations, many providers face significant digital challenges:
“Market participants must now implement so-called pre-clearance. Goods are already cleared for free circulation in the EU while still in China. Many providers are therefore withdrawing from the business in the short term,” says Koidl. China Post, for example, no longer accepts eCommerce parcels for the EU market. Only those who have fully digitized their goods traffic remain competitive.
Koidl sees two models in a changed market: the so-called warehouse model. Goods are imported conventionally, cleared, and shipped from an EU warehouse to consumers. However, Koidl says this will significantly change and increase the cost of the product range:
“We expect a drastic reduction in the assortment to top sellers. The charm of a broad, diverse range that was fast and cheap cannot be maintained with expensive warehouses in Europe.” The marketplace SHEIN has already opened a robot-supported warehouse in Poland covering 740,000 square meters. But the previous express model is by no means dead. “Many of our Chinese customers will pay the fee or switch to alternative customs clearance methods,” says the entrepreneur.
A common misconception is that the introduction of the parcel fee will significantly reduce the largely uncontrolled import of harmful or unauthorized products, says Koidl. That is not the case. eClear sees an unresolved but necessary course correction:
“For sustainable market development in trade with China and other importing countries, we urgently need the digitized product passport. It creates transparency and ensures fair competition.” This is an electronic dataset containing detailed information about material composition, origin, repairability, and recyclability. This data can then be accessed directly on the product via a QR or barcode. “Such databases have existed for a long time,” says Koidl. The introduction should—in favor of fair competition—follow immediately after the collection of the new fees.
