France wants EU parcels levy to stem flood of cheap Chinese fast fashion imports

PARIS— France wants Brussels to slap additional fees on small parcels imported by Chinese e-commerce and fast fashion firms in a bid to protect the European market from a flood of cheaper imports.  

Economy Minister Éric Lombard on Tuesday announced the ministry’s intention to work with other EU countries on mechanisms that protect the market from dumping by Chinese firms, as products originally destined for the United States now face sky-high tariffs. 

Paris wants to introduce a new “handling fee” on foreign companies for parcels worth less than €150, which are currently exempt from EU customs duties. The minister hopes this measure could come into force as early as 2026. 

The push comes as EU countries urge Brussels to do more to clamp down on online retailers, which they argue are letting products into the market that don’t comply with EU regulations and standards.

The aim is to “re-inject equity into this [customs] system and slow down the flows” of cheap imported goods, Lombard said at the event held at Roissy Charles de Gaulle Airport near Paris.

Calls from industry

France wants to answer calls from businesses for protection as fears rise that the region is being increasingly flooded by Chinese packages from marketplaces such as the Singapore-based Shein and Temu.

The two brands are now taxed at 145 percent by the United States. Both increased their prices for U.S. customers last week in response to Trump’s prohibitive tariffs.

“E-commerce has profoundly transformed our consumption habits. But its meteoric rise, driven by the emergence of foreign platforms such as Temu or Shein, poses major challenges,” said Clara Chappaz, France’s deputy minister in charge of artificial intelligence and digital affairs, who was also present at the event.

But Paris has also championed calls for EU-wide restrictions on fast fashion brands to address a growing textile waste problem. France has already succeeded in introducing higher fees for fast fashion producers to cover the cost of waste management for their products.  

Other EU countries have made similar moves. Back in March, Nordic countries including Denmark, Sweden and Norway said they would “​​collaborate to stop products from platforms such as Temu, Shein and Wish that are harmful for people’s health and the environment,” following a council of environment ministers held in Brussels.

“Sweden has been advocating that small packages, often delivered by Temu and Shein, no longer should be exempt from customs duties,” Sweden’s Minister of Climate and Environment Romina Pourmokhtari said at the time. 

Brussels recently unveiled a new e-commerce action plan to boost coordination among customs and market surveillance authorities across the bloc, and reinforce existing rules with more checks on faulty or counterfeit products.

Both Temu and Shein have recently faced probes by the EU over whether the companies are doing enough to crack down on non-compliant products and protect consumers.

Not without Brussels 

With so many ministers and customs officials present at the announcement, many thought Paris was about to side-step Brussels and impose handling fees on imported goods immediately. 

Fevad, the French e-commerce lobby which represents over 800 online retailers including Amazon and Vinted, welcomed the announcement and said it wants swift action to address “the unjustified advantages that Asian sites enjoy.”

“Europe now needs to tackle the dumping strategy that our sector faces,” the group told POLITICO in a statement.  

But going at it alone would not have had the desired effect, others argue. “If France goes [at] it alone to impose additional management fees, it will only take 48 hours for companies to transit their parcels to Belgian processing centers and avoid paying,” a customs officer told POLITICO.

The French industry ministry appeared to have come to the same conclusion.“Let us keep in mind that we are in a customs union, and therefore that we cannot act alone,” Lombard said at the event.

“Yes, [we] want a transitional measure but no, it will not be done without Europe,” a French cabinet official added.

Marianne Gros reported from Brussels and Klara Durand from Paris.