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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Total agreement.
The biggest inconsistency in that argument to me is that they argue like this against direct imports:
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.