Business & Economics
EU Greenlights €3 Duty on Low-Value Imports Starting July 2026
EU finance ministers have abolished the tax-free “de-minimis” rule and will charge a flat €3 on every parcel under €150 entering the bloc from 1 July 2026 until a fuller customs overhaul arrives.
Focusing Facts
- Decision adopted 12–13 Dec 2025 at the ECOFIN Council sets a €3 duty per tariff line on sub-€150 parcels, replacing the zero-duty threshold.
- The measure is explicitly temporary, expiring when the new EU customs data-hub system is scheduled to go live in 2028.
- EU data show 4.6 billion low-value parcels entered in 2024—about 145 per second—with 91 % originating in China.
Context
The EU is reaching back to an older playbook: when the U.S. Tariff Act of 1930 (Smoot-Hawley) slapped uniform duties on thousands of goods, it was framed as a stop-gap to protect domestic jobs during a flood of cheap imports. Nearly a century later, Brussels is adding similar ‘friction’—this time a token €3—against a tidal wave of micro-shipments propelled by algorithmic fast-fashion. The duty signals a broader recalibration away from two decades of de-regulated e-commerce toward data-driven, sovereignty-focused trade management: carbon border taxes, supply-chain screening, and now parcel fees. Whether the levy curbs volumes or merely nudges platforms to consolidate shipments, it shows that the single market is willing to trade a little consumer surplus for enforcement capacity, data visibility and industrial policy leverage. On a 100-year horizon, today’s measure may read as one early brick in a wider “re-frictionalisation” of global trade—less about the €3 itself than about the precedent that even the smallest cross-border transaction is no longer too small to regulate.
Perspectives
European business-centered news outlets
e.g., The Malta Independent Online, Gulf Daily News Online — Portray the €3 levy as a decisive step that safeguards the EU’s single market, levels the playing field for European retailers and defends consumer safety against a flood of non-compliant Chinese imports. Closely echoes EU officials and domestic retailers, presenting the measure as an unquestioned “major victory” while playing down its protectionist character and the extra costs for shoppers.
Indian financial press
e.g., Economic Times — Frames the levy as an “apparent attack on China,” underscoring it as a protectionist move aimed squarely at curbing Chinese e-commerce dominance in Europe. By casting the duty primarily through a geopolitical lens, it glosses over the EU’s stated safety and fraud concerns and amplifies the narrative of anti-China discrimination.
Consumer- and expat-focused lifestyle media
e.g., Euro Weekly News Spain, Dublin Live — Warn that the flat €3 fee will directly raise costs for frequent online shoppers and expats, possibly discouraging cross-border purchases and hurting low-income consumers. Centers on immediate pocket-book impacts for readers, potentially overstating consumer pain while giving limited attention to longer-term market-fairness or safety rationales.