The EU is moving forward with plans to impose customs duty on cheap goods in a shift that could hit imports from online retailers and harm a hoped-for London listing by the fast-fashion seller Shein.

The potential change comes amid growing disquiet among retailers based in mainland Europe, the UK and the US about rising competition from Chinese-linked marketplaces Shein and Temu, which exploit a loophole that excludes low-value items from import duty.

In the EU, the threshold for the levy is €150 (£127) and in the UK it is £135, enabling retailers such as Shein to ship products directly from overseas to shoppers in those markets without paying any import duty. In the UK, items valued at £39 or less also do not attract import VAT.

  • AutoTL;DR@lemmings.worldB
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    2
    ·
    4 months ago

    This is the best summary I could come up with:


    The EU is moving forward with plans to impose customs duty on cheap goods in a shift that could hit imports from online retailers and harm a hoped-for London listing by the fast-fashion seller Shein.

    The potential change comes amid growing disquiet among retailers based in mainland Europe, the UK and the US about rising competition from Chinese-linked marketplaces Shein and Temu, which exploit a loophole that excludes low-value items from import duty.

    In the EU, the threshold for the levy is €150 (£127) and in the UK it is £135, enabling retailers such as Shein to ship products directly from overseas to shoppers in those markets without paying any import duty.

    Last year, 2.3bn items below the duty-free €150 threshold were imported into the EU, according to a report in the Financial Times that highlighted the potential change.

    Some countries impose import duties of up to 30%, he said, and having to pay that would force Shein to either completely change its business model, put up prices or take a hit on profit.

    On Tuesday, Simon Roberts, the boss of Sainsbury’s and Argos, called on a new government to look at unfair taxes including business rates and import duty.


    The original article contains 521 words, the summary contains 200 words. Saved 62%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!