EU’s €3 Duty Is Reshaping Low-Value Online Imports

The European Union’s new customs charge on low-value online imports is already changing the flow of cheap cross-border shopping. Since July 1, 2026, goods shipped from outside the EU in consignments with an intrinsic value of €150 or less have generally faced a temporary €3 customs duty.

Early reporting based on French customs figures cited by the French Ministry of the Economy indicates that small-parcel imports into the EU have fallen by roughly 30% to 40% since the measure began, particularly in China-linked flows. That is an early regional signal, not yet a fully harmonized EU statistical release.

What changed on July 1

Before July 1, qualifying goods worth €150 or less could enter the EU without customs duty under the bloc’s low-value exemption. The exemption did not eliminate VAT or other product requirements, but it allowed many small shipments to avoid customs duty.

The new temporary duty applies to low-value distance sales from outside the EU and is scheduled to remain in place through July 1, 2028. That date is tied to the planned deployment of the EU Customs Data Hub; the temporary regime could be extended if the infrastructure is not operational by then. After the transition, normal customs duties based on the type of goods are expected to apply.

The €3 is generally not a direct consumer tax collected from shoppers. The European Commission says responsibility normally falls on the declarant, such as the seller, importer, online platform or representative. Consumers would pay directly only in limited cases involving a Member State’s free web-based declaration system.

It is not automatically €3 per parcel

The duty is calculated by declared item, tariff classification and customs declaration line. In practice, the amount can vary within one parcel and can depend on the type of declaration used.

For example, five T-shirts sharing the relevant classification may be grouped as one declared item and produce a €3 duty. A parcel containing one T-shirt and one watch could produce two declared categories and a €6 duty. The precise result depends on how the goods are classified and declared, so the charge is not universally one €3 payment per package.

EU customs guidance also explains that current systems may group goods differently under H6, H7 and H1 declarations. Under some declaration types, products sharing a classification can appear on one line; under others, more detailed tariff or origin information can create separate lines. Customs authorities are instructed to treat artificial groupings of separate consumer shipments as separate consignments when the purpose is to reduce the duty.

Why Brussels adopted the measure

The European Commission says almost 5.9 billion low-value items entered the EU in 2025, equivalent to more than 16 million items a day. Officials argue that the former exemption gave some overseas e-commerce models a cost advantage over European retailers that import goods in larger shipments and must comply with EU requirements.

The Commission has also tied the change to product safety and traceability. It reported that more than 60% of low-value products checked in 2025 failed EU requirements or safety standards. That figure describes the Commission’s targeted inspections of selected product categories; it is not a universal defect rate for every small parcel entering the bloc.

The rule is formally origin-neutral and applies regardless of the country where goods were made. China-linked platforms and parcels are central to the early impact reports because they account for a substantial share of this trade, but the legal measure does not name China as its target.

What the early data show

Euronews reported on August 27 that French customs figures cited by the French Ministry of the Economy pointed to a 30% to 40% decline in small-parcel imports after the duty took effect. The report also attributed June-to-July sales declines of 50% for Temu, 37% for AliExpress and 15% for Shein.

Those platform figures should be treated cautiously. They were attributed to Euronews reporting rather than established here through audited company filings or an EU-wide official dataset, and they do not prove that the customs duty alone caused the changes.

The effects may extend beyond checkout prices. Overseas marketplaces could respond by changing discounts, consolidating shipments, shifting goods into EU-based warehouses or adjusting product availability. European retailers may face less of the former low-value import disadvantage, although the long-term effect on retail prices has not been established.

What comes next

Product identifiers become mandatory for imported distance-sale goods on November 1, 2026. The requirement is intended to give customs authorities more precise information for safety, compliance and traceability checks. Generic product descriptions will no longer be enough where the new identifiers are required.

A separate Union Handling Fee is also part of the next phase. It is distinct from the enacted €3 customs duty and is intended to cover customs-processing costs. French government guidance says it is expected to complement the system from November 1, 2026, but its precise amount and operating rules were still being defined in the sources reviewed.

France’s government also says the EU customs duty replaced the country’s temporary national small-parcel tax on July 1. The EU will return 25% of collected customs duties to the country that receives and clears the parcels.

For consumers, the immediate takeaway is straightforward: small online orders shipped into the EU from outside the bloc are no longer generally exempt from customs duty. The charge may be absorbed by the seller or platform, passed into the checkout price, reflected in fewer promotions or incorporated into a different delivery model. The next clear checkpoint is November 1, when product-identification rules are scheduled to tighten and the separate handling-fee system is expected to become clearer.

Sources

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