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.

  • TheGalacticVoid@lemm.ee
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    4 months ago

    I hope this doesn’t spread to the US as although it’ll stop Temu and Shein, it’ll also probably make niche goods and hobbyist parts more expensive. I really don’t want to pay the Amazon tax if I can find the same thing on Aliexpress, and a duty would just shorten that gap.