EU finance ministers have formally scrapped the 150-euro de minimis threshold that has, for more than a decade, allowed small parcels to enter the bloc free of customs duties. From 1 July 2026, every cross-border consumer parcel arriving in the European Union will carry a minimum 3-euro customs charge, with higher tariffs applied to specific categories. For ultra-fast-fashion and marketplace operators such as Shein, Temu and AliExpress, the change closes the single biggest structural cost advantage they enjoyed against domestic European retailers.
A loophole that became a tidal wave
When the 150-euro threshold was introduced, the EU received roughly 200 million low-value parcels a year. In 2024 the figure was 4.6 billion, an average of 12 million packages every single day, with 91 percent shipped from China. European Commission analysis estimates that compliance with VAT, product safety and environmental rules on these shipments has been the exception rather than the rule, with member-state customs authorities able to inspect well under one percent of incoming volume.
Brussels frames the reform as the most ambitious customs overhaul since the customs union was created in 1968. In practice it is a direct response to a business model in which Chinese marketplaces ship single units in individual envelopes, declare values below the threshold and bypass duty collection while transferring all post-purchase logistics risk to consumers and national postal operators.
What the new tariff actually looks like
The headline 3-euro flat duty applies to any parcel valued below 150 euros, regardless of category. Higher rates kick in for apparel, leather goods and consumer electronics, where the average effective tariff is expected to land between 6 and 12 percent of declared value. Member states retain the right to layer on existing national VAT, which already adds 19 to 25 percent in most markets. The reform also makes online marketplaces the importer of record by default, shifting customs liability away from the end consumer and onto the platform.
For a typical 25-euro Shein order, the total landed-cost increase will sit between 4 and 6 euros once duty and platform-fees pass-through are layered in. Independent retailers in fashion, beauty and home goods, who have long argued that the threshold gave foreign sellers a 20 to 30 percent unit-economics advantage, are likely to recover at least part of that gap on price-sensitive categories during the second half of 2026.
Direct exposure for the largest players
Shein, Temu and AliExpress between them account for the majority of low-value EU parcel volume. Each has been preparing for the change with different strategies. Shein has accelerated investment in European warehouses in Poland and Italy, moving toward a model that resembles domestic fulfilment and shifts the import-duty event from individual parcel to bulk container. Temu has signed long-term deals with EU-based 3PLs and shortened its ship-from-China promise from 7 to 12 days down to 3 to 5 for popular SKUs. AliExpress has begun migrating its top sellers onto its European storage programme.
None of these mitigations remove the duty itself, but each pulls operational cost forward into the import stage rather than the consumer checkout, smoothing the price shock. Analysts at Bernstein expect the immediate average order value for EU Shein customers to drop by 8 to 12 percent in July and August as the price uplift filters through, before recovering in the autumn as marketplace algorithms rebalance assortment toward higher-margin categories.
Regulatory pressure on multiple fronts
The customs reform lands while both Temu and AliExpress face preliminary EU findings under the Digital Services Act for failing to prevent the sale of illegal products, and while Shein is under separate scrutiny in France over child-safety and intellectual-property concerns. Combined, these proceedings carry potential fines of up to 6 percent of global turnover, dwarfing the duty itself.
European DTC brands, particularly in beauty, jewellery and accessories, are watching closely. Several have privately briefed that they will accelerate launch plans for second-half collections, reasoning that the combination of higher import costs and longer delivery times on Chinese marketplaces will create a genuine, if temporary, window for category share recovery. Whether that window stays open into 2027 depends on how quickly Shein and Temu complete the operational pivot to local fulfilment, and on whether enforcement of the new customs rules matches the political ambition behind them.