For years, a quiet loophole in EU customs law let parcels valued under €150 slip across borders without any duty charges. That era ends on July 1, 2026, when the European Union begins slapping a flat €3 customs fee on every low-value import entering the bloc from outside its borders.

The primary targets are obvious: Temu, Shein, and AliExpress, the trio of Chinese e-commerce platforms that have flooded Europe with cheap goods by exploiting the so-called de minimis exemption.

What the new duty actually looks like

The mechanics are straightforward. Every item valued at €150 or less that enters the EU from a non-member country will now carry an automatic €3 customs charge. The fee applies per item, not per shipment, which means a parcel containing five cheap phone cases could generate €15 in duties where it previously generated zero.

The EU Council reached agreement on this measure on December 12, 2025. Formal approval followed on February 11, 2026, setting the stage for the July 2026 enforcement date.

The €3 charge is temporary. It expires on July 1, 2028, at which point the EU plans to roll out standard tariff rates through its new Customs Data Hub.

The duty applies regardless of whether sellers are registered under the Import One-Stop Shop (IOSS) VAT scheme. Previously, some platforms argued their participation in IOSS meant they were already playing by the rules. The EU is essentially saying: paying VAT and paying customs duty are two different things, and you now owe both.

Why this matters beyond shopping carts

Low-value parcels entering duty-free often bypassed the customs inspections that higher-value goods received. That meant everything from children’s toys with unsafe chemical levels to electronics that didn’t meet EU standards could reach consumers with minimal oversight. Adding a customs touchpoint creates a checkpoint where regulators can flag problematic goods.

For Temu, Shein, and AliExpress, a €3 per-item charge doesn’t sound like much in isolation, but when your business model is built on selling items for €2-€10 with free or near-free shipping, an additional €3 represents a significant percentage increase in the total cost to the consumer. These platforms will need to decide whether to absorb the cost, pass it along to buyers, or restructure their logistics to ship from within the EU.

Some are already moving in the latter direction. Shein has been expanding warehouse operations in Europe, and Temu has explored similar strategies. Warehousing goods inside the EU before sale would technically avoid the import duty on individual consumer parcels, though it would require the platforms to import in bulk and pay standard commercial duties upfront.