European Union ministers on Thursday voted to get rid of duty-free standing for small parcel imports, becoming a member of the US in upending a preferred mechanism for e-commerce platforms to straight ship orders throughout borders to households at low value.
The settlement would get rid of the 150 euro customs threshold, equal to $174, beneath which shipments are exempt for paying duties in 2028, depending on the profitable completion of a centralized EU customs information hub that will change fragmented nationwide programs for processing commerce flows. The net portal would be capable of calculate and transmit customs debt owed on a per-item foundation for packages getting into the European Union.
Officers will now work on a short lived option to acquire duties on low-value items as quickly as doable in 2026, in keeping with the EU announcement.
The U.S. threshold for charging customs duties was $800 per particular person cargo.
“We be certain that duties are paid from the primary euro, making a stage enjoying subject for European companies and limiting the inflow of low-cost items,” stated Stephanie Lose, Denmark’s minister for financial affairs.
The settlement on de minimis follows a European Council choice in June to gather a flat e-commerce dealing with price of two euros, beginning in November 2026, aimed toward addressing the inflow of cheap imports from Alibaba, Shein, Temu and different platforms in China.
The so-called de minimis rule has been beneath fireplace within the U.S. and Europe for giving overseas sellers an unfair benefit over home producers and conventional bulk imports of retail items. European officers have additionally raised environmental considerations from additional packaging and car emissions used to move particular person shipments as a substitute of consolidated ones designed for retailer distribution. U.S. authorities have additionally criticized the trade-facilitation program as enabling the smuggling of unlawful medication and counterfeit merchandise as a result of e-commerce shipments can bypass common customs checks.
The European Union obtained 4.6 billion parcel imports in 2024. Based on estimates, as much as 65% of small parcels getting into the area are undervalued to keep away from import duties and 91% of all e-commerce shipments valued beneath 150 euros got here from China final 12 months. Amassing duties on these shipments is predicted to herald $1.2 billion per 12 months in customs income.
Though parcels valued beneath 150 euros are exempt from customs duties they’re nonetheless topic to value-added tax and customs declarations within the EU.
Airfreight demand from China and Hong Kong to the U.S. has declined since Might, when the Trump administration banned favorable customs remedy for small-dollar shipments. However e-commerce volumes from China to European nations have surged this 12 months. In August, the U.S. authorities revoked the de minimis exemption for shipments from all nations.
Giant on-line sellers have responded to the brand new guidelines by shifting a lot of their inbound stock to ocean containers and fulfilling e-commerce orders from U.S. warehouses.
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