EU to Impose €3 Fee on Low-Value E-Commerce Parcels, Hitting Shein, Temu, and AliExpress
N.R. Finch
The EU now charges a €3 handling fee on every low-value parcel shipped from China, striking directly at the duty-free model that fueled Shein, Temu, and AliExpress's rapid European expansion.
How exactly is the €3 fee calculated?
The fee is charged per customs commodity code inside a parcel, not per parcel.
In plain terms = a parcel containing three different product categories (say, a dress, a toy, and earbuds) costs €9; a parcel with only one category (three dresses) costs €3.
This means → mixed-category "combo orders" take the biggest hit. Low-price, grab-bag shopping baskets are the most affected.
Why is the EU acting now?
The EU's duty exemption for imports under €150 has been in place for decades; the current threshold was set in 2008.
But cross-border e-commerce exploded: duty-free parcels surged from 1.4 billion in 2022 to 5.8 billion in 2025.
EU Parliament member Dirk Gotink, who leads the customs reform file, said: "This exemption has been abused at industrial scale, creating a competitive advantage at the expense of EU businesses."
This reflects a shift in Brussels' judgment: the exemption is no longer a minor consumer convenience — it is a systemic competitive distortion.
How are the platforms responding?
AliExpress (Alibaba): some product pages will now show "price includes duties and VAT"; other items will display import charges at checkout.
Amazon: 97% of its EU orders last year already shipped from EU-based warehouses. Non-EU shipments will likewise show import fees before checkout.
Shein: moved early — expanded warehouse space in Wrocław, Poland, and scaled up bulk shipments into the EU. In plain terms = ship goods into Europe first, sell from local stock, and sidestep the "direct-from-China" fee trigger.
Temu: did not respond to requests for comment.
What does this mean for logistics and the broader market?
E-commerce and air-cargo consultant Derek Lossing (Cirrus Global Advisors) expects EU e-commerce air-cargo volumes to fall 10% to 35% within weeks of the fee taking effect.
This means → the impact runs beyond e-commerce — air-freight carriers will feel order contraction directly.
The U.S. ended its de minimis exemption — a policy that let low-value parcels enter duty-free — for Chinese goods in May. Europe had been an alternative market for platform redirection. Lossing noted: "But now there is no truly clear European alternative."
What comes next?
The €3 fee is a transitional measure, set to be replaced by category-specific tariffs when the EU Customs Authority begins operations on July 1, 2028.
This means → this is not the endpoint but the starting line — future tariffs could be higher and more precisely targeted.
The key variable to watch next: whether platforms can absorb part of the cost by squeezing supplier margins, limiting how much of the increase reaches consumers.
Content is for reference only, not financial advice.