This sentiment, branded differently but functionally the same, is punished in the US currently, because the hordes are upset their Shein costs more in the short term.
We've entered a new era where every nation is walling up its industries (tariffs and fines), its demographics (via immigration), and it's culture (internet and social media control).
A customs duty and a tariff are functionally the same, raising the cost of foreign goods to protect local industries.
At the volumes AliExpress/Temu/Shein ship I'm very surprised it isn't already cheaper to do so rather than try to air freight everything (air freight can easily cost $4/kg, Which is part of the reason all the items are very lightweight)
Finland has a nice system AFAIK. Tulli created an online declaration system[1], and forces carriers to integrate with it. When a person wants to declare their package, Tulli requests the relevant data from the relevant carrier.
Thus the declaration gets prefilled with mostly correct data, which the person can then verify, change or augment.
Haven't used it myself but sounds quite nice, and Posti's handling fee[2] is a reasonable EUR 3.10.
The handling fee should be €0.00, partly because the system should be fully digital and automated in today's world, and partly because dealing with customs is a required part of shipping a parcel overseas, which the sender has already paid for.
Also, €3 is massive when some items are €0.99 with free shipping.
Totally agree. Although that 0.99 with free shipping is exactly because of the backwards way international postage works - and that is what needs to change.
It should be changed so any necessary handling fees for consumer purchases are fully included in the shipping price.
It will mean no free shipping from temu on a 0.99 item, but those zero/low shipment items are literally what has prompted this €3 levy in the first place.
> because dealing with customs is a required part of shipping a parcel overseas, which the sender has already paid for
Obviously if the shipment is DDP then the customer wouldn't have to do the customs clearance and wouldn't pay in addition for the handling.
This solution would only be for DAP or similar[1].
DigiKey for example allows you to select between different incoterms, but most shops have a "take it or leave it" approach, and usually DAP as DDP is a lot more risky for the seller.
If I read it right, I’d need to pay €3 on each item when Aliexpress bundles 20 1€ items together - €60 in tax for €20 worth of items, or effectively a 300% tax. That’s what the language implies with “applied to each different item, …, contained in a consignment.”
That’s not just a tax on revenue, or an incentive to buy locally - it’s prohibitory. Do they want to obliterate the "direct-to-consumer" cheap goods for good with this?
But who this law protects anyway? Most of “local” sellers that offer Aliexpress-kind of items (where else can I find my “stainless steel meat shredder claws” but there!?) basically drop ship from Taobao and the like in bulk. And this law now forces me to use them. What’s the point of this? A tiny revenue stream from handling fees? But even these drop shippers don’t offer much in terms of variety. Nor do or possibly can the supposedly big warehouses of Aliexpress-like platforms located within EU - it’s just not feasible. So this law implies that unregulated variety is a luxury now?
If it bundles them together into one parcel (while staying under 150€) I read the announcement such that the entire package would get taxed by 3€.
If I recall correctly some of the goals of this are
- to relieve the load on the custom s enforcement agencies by motivating sellers to import and declare goods in bulk.
- to make sure there is someone domestic who is legally responsible for liabilities and other regulations (e.g. for waste and EC compliance). It's easier to force a big company to do something than a 2 person shop in China. There are already laws in the book where the marketplace becomes liable if the actual seller cannot be found.
I believe AliExpress bulk imports much of its wares to EU warehouses already (at least popular stuff). It's not possible for everything but for popular items it's happening more and more frequently.
They finally do something about it, was about time. I wonder how big Chinese platforms are going to avoid it.
This sentiment, branded differently but functionally the same, is punished in the US currently, because the hordes are upset their Shein costs more in the short term.
We've entered a new era where every nation is walling up its industries (tariffs and fines), its demographics (via immigration), and it's culture (internet and social media control).
A customs duty and a tariff are functionally the same, raising the cost of foreign goods to protect local industries.
They can always have a local warehouse.
At the volumes AliExpress/Temu/Shein ship I'm very surprised it isn't already cheaper to do so rather than try to air freight everything (air freight can easily cost $4/kg, Which is part of the reason all the items are very lightweight)
Rise order minimums or just make their suppliers to eat it. They will still be cheaper even if you up the price by say 10%.
A €3 duty, to which the carriers will apply a €12 surcharge for acting as an agent to collect that €3
I understand paying import duties and VAT, but they need to make it frictionless and abolish these “agents” for consumer imports.
Finland has a nice system AFAIK. Tulli created an online declaration system[1], and forces carriers to integrate with it. When a person wants to declare their package, Tulli requests the relevant data from the relevant carrier.
Thus the declaration gets prefilled with mostly correct data, which the person can then verify, change or augment.
Haven't used it myself but sounds quite nice, and Posti's handling fee[2] is a reasonable EUR 3.10.
[1]: https://tulli.fi/en/declare-your-parcel
[2]: https://www.posti.fi/en/for-businesses/pay-the-handling-fee
The handling fee should be €0.00, partly because the system should be fully digital and automated in today's world, and partly because dealing with customs is a required part of shipping a parcel overseas, which the sender has already paid for.
Also, €3 is massive when some items are €0.99 with free shipping.
Totally agree. Although that 0.99 with free shipping is exactly because of the backwards way international postage works - and that is what needs to change.
It should be changed so any necessary handling fees for consumer purchases are fully included in the shipping price.
It will mean no free shipping from temu on a 0.99 item, but those zero/low shipment items are literally what has prompted this €3 levy in the first place.
> because dealing with customs is a required part of shipping a parcel overseas, which the sender has already paid for
Obviously if the shipment is DDP then the customer wouldn't have to do the customs clearance and wouldn't pay in addition for the handling.
This solution would only be for DAP or similar[1].
DigiKey for example allows you to select between different incoterms, but most shops have a "take it or leave it" approach, and usually DAP as DDP is a lot more risky for the seller.
[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incoterms#DAP_%E2%80%93_Delive...
Can anybody eli5 this law please?
If I read it right, I’d need to pay €3 on each item when Aliexpress bundles 20 1€ items together - €60 in tax for €20 worth of items, or effectively a 300% tax. That’s what the language implies with “applied to each different item, …, contained in a consignment.”
That’s not just a tax on revenue, or an incentive to buy locally - it’s prohibitory. Do they want to obliterate the "direct-to-consumer" cheap goods for good with this?
But who this law protects anyway? Most of “local” sellers that offer Aliexpress-kind of items (where else can I find my “stainless steel meat shredder claws” but there!?) basically drop ship from Taobao and the like in bulk. And this law now forces me to use them. What’s the point of this? A tiny revenue stream from handling fees? But even these drop shippers don’t offer much in terms of variety. Nor do or possibly can the supposedly big warehouses of Aliexpress-like platforms located within EU - it’s just not feasible. So this law implies that unregulated variety is a luxury now?
If it bundles them together into one parcel (while staying under 150€) I read the announcement such that the entire package would get taxed by 3€.
If I recall correctly some of the goals of this are
- to relieve the load on the custom s enforcement agencies by motivating sellers to import and declare goods in bulk.
- to make sure there is someone domestic who is legally responsible for liabilities and other regulations (e.g. for waste and EC compliance). It's easier to force a big company to do something than a 2 person shop in China. There are already laws in the book where the marketplace becomes liable if the actual seller cannot be found.
I believe AliExpress bulk imports much of its wares to EU warehouses already (at least popular stuff). It's not possible for everything but for popular items it's happening more and more frequently.