Europe is drowning in cheap parcels. In 2024 alone, more than 12 billion low-value packages poured into the EU, 91 percent shipped directly from China.
The delivery itself often costs more than the products inside the parcel. Shoppers may celebrate €5 T-shirts and €10 blenders, but behind every parcel lies a silent cost: bankrupt retailers, violated consumer rights, exploitative labour conditions, and rising threats to public safety.
It is time for the European Union to act immediately and close the door to companies that profit from breaking the rules.
The evidence of Shein’s and Temu’s misconduct is overwhelming. At the top of the list stands the most fundamental concern: consumer safety.
Authorities have found beauty products and children’s toys containing high levels of toxins and carcinogenic substances.
Even more alarming are the failures in products meant to save lives. Smoke detectors that stay silent, helmets that shatter, and electronics that spark fires.
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It is very easy. I need a low value item, like a USB plug. It costs 50 cents.
I can either buy it locally, for 50 cents plus 4€ shipping.
I can go to a physical store, waste at least 40 minutes getting there and back, pay 2€ for the 50 cent thing.
Or I can buy it from aliexpress for 40 cents plus 1€ shipping.
Why is shipping from CHINA so much cheaper compared to shipping in my own country? Why is shipping inside my country so expensive?
The answer lies in the so-called “de minimis” loophole. Under this rule, any parcel worth less than €150 bypasses both customs inspections and tax payments.
That was abolished last July (see https://parcels2send.com/blogs/news/eu-import-rule-change-july-2025-the-150-low-value-exemption-is-going-and-compliance-is-getting-tougher).
It is worth mentioning that, even if that wasn’t the case, the article still makes little sense (and one must wonder whether the author/publisher have some hidden agenda).
First of all: if the problem is safety (“think of the children!”), it should be addressed by more inspections/controls and possibly harsher punishments, not more import duties.
Secondly: even with Trump-style 100% tariffs, a 5€ t-shirt from China will cost 10€, which is still way less that what “traditional” stores charge for a t-shirt (the same one, possibly with more prestigious branding and/or “real” branding as opposed to “fake” one).
Total agreement.
The biggest inconsistency in that argument to me is that they argue like this against direct imports:
bankrupt retailers, violated consumer rights, exploitative labour conditions, and rising threats to public safety.
While their suggested alternative is to just let the retailers import stuff for the customers, which changes exactly nothing about these points except of the bankrupt retailers.
The T-shirt sold at H&M or Primark is probably from the same sweatshop as the one from Temu, produced with the same exploitative labour conditions and no more customer rights than when ordering from Temu.
