this post was submitted on 21 May 2025
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148
EU to impose โ‚ฌ2 tax on low-cost items in blow to Temu and Shein (www.ft.com)
submitted 1 day ago by Sunshine@lemmy.ca to c/buyeuropean@feddit.uk
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[โ€“] Aceticon@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 10 hours ago

I was wondering how they were going to protect intermediaries from the growth of desintermediation platforms were consumers buy things from the factories or just the next link on the chain down from that.

Because intermediaries are the ones making lots of money importing the same stuff as people are now buying direct, putting a label on it, and selling it locally for at least 3x the price and their business model is threatened by consumers buying directly from the places were all the factories are.

Mind you, I'm all for less stuff being made in China and more in Europe, I just don't think the Commission is doing this for that reason, since historically they tend to do what's best for "business" and a lot of "business" in Europe is just being a brand for junk made in China or some other non-European country with cheap labour.

[โ€“] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 36 points 1 day ago (3 children)

This is the best news all year.

[โ€“] sour@feddit.org 9 points 1 day ago (2 children)

Any low cost item, though?

What about my 20ct LEDs? Or the 2.50 ESP32?

[โ€“] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 21 points 1 day ago (1 children)

That's a sacrifice I'm willing to accept if it slows down people buying stuff mindlessly. Your 20ct LEDs delivery is being subsidised by European post services. Now it won't.

[โ€“] microcapybara@sopuli.xyz 15 points 1 day ago

Absolutely! I also love access to small, cheap electronic bits for my projects, and at the same time Iโ€™m all for protecting our postal services. A 2โ‚ฌ per package surcharge doesnโ€™t practically change anything on the economy side. Temu already expects a minimum purchase of something like 20โ‚ฌ.

My small concern with this is how it will be applied/processed by the carriers. I hope it doesnโ€™t end up like the customs/VAT on larger packages, where they charge 10-20โ‚ฌ for customs clearance. But now that I write it down, for me, even that isnโ€™t a complete blocking factor. Iโ€™d probably spend more time comparing the value of ordering direct vs from a local reseller, which is exactly the goal.

[โ€“] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 17 points 1 day ago (1 children)

It's per-package. As long as you order multiple at once, you're good.

[โ€“] B0rax@feddit.org 2 points 23 hours ago (1 children)

How is โ€žper packageโ€œ defined? Per shipper? Per order? Per seller? How about one shipment that includes items for multiple people that are split in a local warehouse and resend?

[โ€“] FooBarrington@lemmy.world 9 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 22 hours ago) (1 children)

I'd assume it's per physical package entering the EU. The chinese sellers have been sending many small packages to go below tax limits, so they'll probably have to change strategy.

[โ€“] B0rax@feddit.org 3 points 22 hours ago* (last edited 21 hours ago)

I guess that depends on the country. In Germany it is the opposite, because the limit is 0โ‚ฌ, so they send them in big โ€žpackagesโ€œ (actually one container at a time) and distribute it in their own distribution center from inside the country.

[โ€“] gnygnygny@lemm.ee 3 points 23 hours ago

No it just mean more taxes, instead of increasing the EU production.

[โ€“] oldfart@lemm.ee -5 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Hooray, things are going to be more expensive!

[โ€“] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 15 points 1 day ago (1 children)

Did you care to read the article? There's a real cost involved in handling these packages that is not being paid by customers nor by companies, but by the post services. I'm all for moving these costs to the people actually doing the buying. Bulk purchases are jot affected by this so things in general are not getting more expensive with this, but only individual deliveries.

[โ€“] oldfart@lemm.ee 8 points 1 day ago

I did not, actually, because it's behind a paywall. I've linked and read another one in the comments but it fails to mention about post offices and says the money is going to customs.

[โ€“] oldfart@lemm.ee 19 points 1 day ago

No paywall, same topic: https://www.euractiv.com/section/politics/news/eu-proposes-e2-package-fee-to-tackle-flood-of-chinese-low-cost-goods/

[โ€“] ivorybean28@feddit.uk 9 points 21 hours ago

Trump bottled this.
Well done EU.